The Buildout: Bountiful Fiber breaks ground

Bountiful Fiber, a municipal fiber network in Bountiful, Utah, working in partnership with Utopia Fiber, officially broke ground this week. The project, initially approved by the Bountiful City Council earlier this summer, was put on hold due to an opposition campaign by special interest groups. But that effort failed in late July leading to this week's groundbreaking ceremony. Per a press release, construction is expected to take 24-36 months. Utopia Fiber will build and operate the system, and Bountiful City, home to 44,481 residents and 14,514 households, will own the fiber infrastructure.

Glo Fiber, the fiber arm of Shentel, will expand its fiber network to Warrenton, Virginia, with plans to connect more than 4,700 homes and businesses. In a press release, the company said it's conducting engineering work, with construction to begin in early 2024 "and last approximately 18 months." The new network will deliver symmetrical speeds up to 5 Gbit/s, said Glo Fiber.

Nextlink Internet announced the completion of a broadband deployment in Wise County, Texas, where the company rolled out Tarana's Gigabit 1 (G1) wireless broadband platform to expand last-mile coverage. The combined fiber and fixed wireless deployment makes speeds up to 500 Mbit/s available to over 65,000 residents across 877 square miles, said the companies. The project utilized $1.3 million in American Rescue Plan funds allocated by the county and took seven months to complete, according to a press release.

GoNetspeed will start construction next month on a fiber network in Plymouth, Connecticut. The network, which may start reaching customers "as early as the end of this fall," is expected to connect more than 2,700 homes and businesses. GoNetspeed, which is building out across nine states with funding from Oak Hill Capital, will invest $1.5 million to build Plymouth's fiber network.

Spectrum announced service launches this week in Missouri and Indiana. In Missouri, the company launched broadband services for 85 homes and small businesses in areas of Bollinger County. And in Indiana, Spectrum went live in previously unserved areas of Harrison County, according to a press release following a local event. That project, ongoing for over two years, will ultimately connect 3,700 homes and businesses. Both builds are part of Spectrum's $5 billion rural buildout, including $1 billion awarded through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The company further received funding from Indiana's Next Level Connections Grant program for Harrison County.

Highline, which is building out in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, announced that its gigabit fiber service is now available for more than 1,000 homes in and around Engadine, Michigan. Service is set to launch in additional towns, including Germfask, Manistique Lake, Gould City and Gulliver, Michigan, in the "upcoming month," said the company. With Michigan on track to receive $1.6 billion through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, Highline in June released a statement saying it is "relying" on BEAD to connect the upper peninsula: "Highline is committed to serving over 42,000 Upper Peninsula homes with our fiber network ... The expeditious flow of funding is critical due to the short 100 days we have to build in the UP because of the long winter season," said Bruce Moore, Highline CEO-Midwest. Highline is currently on target to connect 23,815 Upper Peninsula households by the end of 2023, according to the company.

United Fiber announced that it has reached 30,000 subscribers in Northwest Missouri. In a press release, the company said it had received nearly $60 million in funding from state and federal programs over the last decade to expand fiber in "remote and rural markets" across 12 counties. The company said it has further "independently funded the expansion of fiber broadband to over 45 communities within these counties" and has built over 3,700 miles of fiber overall.

KUB Fiber – the broadband arm of the Knoxville Utility Board in Tennessee – celebrated connecting 4,100 homes and businesses in South Knoxville this week. That followed news last month that KUB Fiber was available for 3,000 customers in portions of Grainger and Union counties. According to local reporting, KUB Fiber is a $700 million dollar, multi-year effort to build fiber across its service area of 210,000 electric customers. The Knoxville Utility Board was awarded $15.2 million from the state's share of American Rescue Plan funds last year.

Twin Valley, a privately owned ISP in Kansas, is building out a fiber network in Ottawa, Kansas. In a press release, the company said it is "actively working" on the project with its partners and will increase its presence in the community "as work begins to ramp up over the coming months." The company intends to reach Ottawa's 22,000 residents with symmetrical speeds up to 2 Gbit/s.

Empire Access, a northeast communications provider with funds via Antin Infrastructure Partners, announced two network expansions this week. The company is building a fiber network in South Elmira, New York, and in Eire, Pennsylvania, both of which are underway and set for completion this fall. Last month, Empire Access announced it completed and was nearing completion on fiber networks in South Bristol, and Geneva, New York.

Conexon announced it is partnering with Butler Electric Cooperation in Kansas to deliver fiber-to-the-home to 4,300 rural locations. The full project will take two years to complete. According to the company, Butler Electric will serve as the ISP, and first customers are expected to be connected this fall.