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The Great Broadband Build: Quantum Fiber Extends Service to 30 Cities, Metro Areas; Kinetic Extends 2 Gig Fiber Internet to 46 Additional Markets

November 21, 2022

Broadband Communities

Broadband build activity continues to ramp. In this week’s issue, we’re tracking Lumen’s Quantum Fiber effort to expand service into over 30 cities while Windstream’s Kinetic is set to bring 2 Gbps services to 46 more residential markets.

The Great Broadband Build is a new weekly online news feature Broadband Communities is developing to track the ongoing last mile and middle mile deployments across the U.S.

You can send us relevant news to sean@bbcmag.com. You can also tune in for new issues of the Great Broadband Build here.

Lumen’s Quantum Fiber Extends Service to 30 Cities, Metro Areas
Lumen Technologies is aggressively expanding its residential and small business fiber internet service, Quantum Fiber, in more than 30 cities and metro areas in the U.S. This expansion will grow its reach to millions of new consumers in its existing and growing fiber footprint. Local Quantum Fiber teams are working on expansions in the following cities and surrounding metro areas:

Kinetic Extends 2 Gig Fiber Internet to 46 Additional Markets
Kinetic recently announced that its 2 Gbps service is now available in 46 more residential markets. The provider claims it will now boast the fastest broadband speeds available to residential customers in most of these premium markets. The company will continue to expand its multi-Gig offerings into more markets with even higher speeds in the future. Expanding 2 Gig service comes as part of Kinetic’s multi-year $2 billion capital investment to deploy fiber across its 18-state footprint. Additionally, the company is crafting public-private partnerships with cities, counties and other groups to drive fiber deeper into the network faster.

Verizon to Bring Fiber Broadband to New York’s Onondaga County
Onondaga County has tapped Verizon to deploy broadband in several communities in this Central New York area. With $11.1 million in funding provided as part of the American Rescue plan and a nearly $7 million dollar investment from Verizon, almost $18 million will be spent on bringing all-fiber, high-speed broadband services to over 1,500 locations in the County. Verizon said it will leverage its supplier relationships to meet the goals set by Onondaga County related to Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBE). Anticipated suppliers include New York-based Corning Incorporated, and Onondaga County-based Right Price Companies (RPC technology) which are expected to supply Verizon with fiber optics cable and other materials.

Archtop Fiber to Acquire New York-Based GTel
Archtop Fiber, a Northeast Internet and phone service provider, has signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire Germantown, New York-based family-owned telco GTel. Through this strategic agreement, Archtop Fiber will provide telecom services in more than five townships across New York's southern Columbia County, bringing new tech-focused jobs and business opportunities to the area as the need for expanded connectivity and robust broadband services demand.Backed by a $350 million investment by Post Road Group, a digital infrastructure and real estate investment platform, the Kingston-based company’s fiber network will be capable of running entire homes, businesses, hospitals, schools and cities across the Northeast. The acquisition is anticipated to close in early 2023 pending regulatory government approvals.

Kansas Doles Out $16M for Rural Broadband Expansion
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly recently announced that $15.7 million will be awarded to seven service providers that will bring high-speed broadband service to underserved, economically distressed, and low-population areas of the state. This is the first of three rounds of awards from the Kansas Capital Project Funds (CPF) Broadband Grant Program. This phase of funding will connect more than 1,900 homes, businesses, schools, healthcare facilities, and other public institutions to broadband internet in the next 24 months. The targeted counties have as few as five locations per square mile, which until now has prevented companies from investing the resources to deliver a quality broadband option. The CPF Grant Program provides the funding needed to implement high-speed broadband in these areas of the state.

According to a release, the new grant program results from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s approval of Kansas’ Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF) broadband infrastructure plan. The federal CPF program is a $10 billion initiative available to states, territories, and tribal governments under the American Rescue Plan Act to fund capital projects. Kansas was one of the first eight states in the country approved for funding under this program and was allocated $83.5 million. The CPF program opportunity resulted in 141 applications from providers requesting $693 million in funding support to build out broadband infrastructure across Kansas. The service providers selected to deliver these last-mile connections will provide partial matching dollars, bringing the total project amount for the first round to $19,700,991. All 141 applications remain eligible for the next two rounds of funding.

The first round of grant recipients include:

Craw-Kan Telephone Cooperative(Anderson and Allen counties) – $4,584,590 to connect 385 premises
Giant Communications(Jackson County) – $895,295 to connect 163 premises
MT Networks LLC(Coffey County) – $2,581,932 to connect 326 premises
Nex-Tech(Thomas County) – $541,320 to connect 64 premises
Pioneer Communications(Hamilton County) – $202,484 to connect 54 premises
S&A Telephone(Lyon County) – $3,746,870 to connect 421 premises
Totah Communications(Montgomery and Chautauqua counties) – $3,244,793 to connect 500 premises

Clearwave Fiber on Track to Exceeed First-Year Expansion Goals
Clearwave Fiber set a goal in January to bring fiber broadband to 500,000 homes and businesses across the United States. The company, according to a release, now passes in excess of 100,000 residences and businesses with its all-fiber network after just ten months of operation. By the end of 2022, Clearwave Fiber will have brought its all-fiber services—capable of delivering the highest speed Internet possible—to the following markets: