Building Broadband: Brightspeed extends fiber network to 31K new Missouri locations; Empire Access lights fiber broadband in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania

Brightspeed extends fiber network to 31K new Missouri locations
Brightspeed has started construction to connect thousands of Central and Southwest Missouri residents to Brightspeed Fiber Internet. The company is working to connect 31,000 addresses in and around Rolla, St. Robert, Lebanon, Marshfield, and Aurora. Brightspeed representatives are currently going door to door in other neighboring communities, including Springfield, Salem, Ozark, and Thayer, where Brightspeed Fiber Internet is already or soon will be available.

Ripple Fiber partners with Post Road Group to accelerate fiber build
Ripple Fiber, a Charlotte, NC-based fiber broadband provider, has established a pact with Post Road Group, an alternative investment firm focused on digital infrastructure and real estate. With assistance from its platform holding company, Glass Routes, and sister entity, HyperFiber, this transaction will play a pivotal role in the rapid expansion of multiple networks, providing capital for deployment to over 400,000 homes by December 2025. Houlihan Lokey acted as the exclusive financial advisor and placement agent, with Platform Investment Partners as a key sponsor.

Empire Access lights fiber broadband in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Empire Access is extending its fiber broadband service to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. The service provider has begun rolling out internet services to residential and business customers in Bloomsburg, joining other rural areas and smaller cities across Northern Pennsylvania and Upstate New York. Upon completion, the fiber route is anticipated to reach nearly 4,000 Bloomsburg addresses, a mix of homes and business locations. Service to Bloomsburg has begun following the completion of phase one of the buildout. The full buildout is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.

Bluepeak to build $19.5M broadband network for Muskogee, Oklahoma
Bluepeak is investing over $19.5 million to expand its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network to Muskogee, Oklahoma. The network expansion will bring a new fast, affordable, reliable fiber broadband option to more than 16,000 homes and businesses in Muskogee starting in 2024. Muskogee is one of several new expansion markets for Bluepeak slated for launch in 2024 and 2025 and has actively moved into the design and engineering phase. The latest network expansion investment is part of Bluepeak’s more extensive plans to invest more than $200 million to continue building out its network in its currently served markets, reaching more than 200,000 new locations with its fiber network in 2024 and 2025.

Ziply Fiber and Island County, Washington, synch up on fiber broadband
Ziply Fiber is partnering with Island County to bring fiber broadband services to Camano Island, Washington. The Island County-Ziply agreement will provide fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) construction to more than 100 homes and businesses on the north end of Camano Island. When construction is completed, residential customers can access speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 50 Gbps. All Ziply Fiber plans offer symmetrical speeds, and the company’s entry-level Fiber 100 plan exceeds the minimum residential broadband speed required by the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Surf Internet breaks broadband ground in Michigan City, Indiana
Surf Internet is moving forward with the next phase in bringing fiber internet to La Porte County, Ind. residents, this time in Michigan City. The service provider is investing over $5.6 million of its capital to expand its fiber network to 4,500 addresses in Michigan City, launching initially with speeds of up to 2 Gbps but designed with the future in mind. This infrastructure will provide a foundation capable of scaling to 10 Gbps shortly, ensuring the network remains competitive and “future-proof.” The project's first phase is expected to go live by August 2024, with all construction slated for completion by August 2025.

GoNetspeed breaks ground on Hallowell, Maine fiber network
GoNetspeed has begun constructing the infrastructure to provide residents and businesses throughout the City of Hallowell with high-speed fiber internet. As construction expands throughout the area, the first customers will be eligible for service installation this summer. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of summer 2024. Upon completing the network, the community will have access to GoNetspeed’s symmetrical fiber internet speeds.