Cox Communications held a meet and greet with potential new customers in Hawthorne on Tuesday. By April, the company expects to be hooking up new customers, providing the town with its first high-speed internet connections. 

Hawthorne Mayor Jacquelyn Randall said she has been waiting her whole life for high-speed internet to come to town, and that the development has been a collaborative effort over the years. 

“It’s another step in the right direction,” Randall said. “A new day in the city of Hawthorne.” 

Cox will move into the area in two phases, according to Aimee Pfannenstiel, Cox’s market vice president. Cox will pay for the first phase, within Hawthorne’s city limits, and the second phase will reach more outlying areas using state grants. 

Pfannenstiel said Cox was looking for a location to move into where the company was needed, and Hawthorne not only needed the internet, but has been a welcoming community to partner with. 

“We came because we know there’s a need here,” Pfannenstiel said. 

Hawthorne residents filtering in to learn about Cox and to leave their contact information for the first wave of hook-ups seemed to agree that their town has a need. 

Randall said most residents use hotspots, either home-based or borrowed from the library, for their internet. A few residents said they have AT&T connected in their homes. No one said they have fast internet. 

Randall said Cox’s arrival will change the way Hawthorne residents live their day-to-day lives because it makes working from home possible. Whether during severe weather or during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said Hawthorne has struggled to keep working and educating students when people cannot physically be in their school or workplace. 

The connection will also improve other common aspects of life, such as gaming and internet streaming. Resident Mona Moore said she has AT&T at her house, but it is slow. She said Cox’s cheapest option costs less than what she pays now, and could elevate her megabits per second (Mbps) from 18 to 250. 

“I won’t sit and watch the swirly thing,” Moore said. 

Pfannenstiel said work has already begun on building the line from its tie-in point in Gainesville, and Cox expects to begin hooking up the first wave of customers in April.