Kirkland, Washington, March 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ziply® Fiber announced today plans to upgrade its existing copper infrastructure to ultrahigh-speed, 100 percent fiber-optic networks in four markets across Washington and Oregon, with construction getting underway in Q1 2023. The first two markets, Banks, Oregon and Riddle, Oregon, already have their first sets of addresses live and ready for service. With the addition of these markets Ziply Fiber has announced new fiber construction projects in more than 90 cities and towns across the Northwest since it began its extensive fiber expansion efforts in the summer of 2020.
When upgrade work is complete across the four cities, thousands of homes and businesses will have access to Ziply Fiber’s new fiber-optic network. With multi-gig services available, these projects will not only make Ziply Fiber the fastest internet provider in each area, but also make all four locations among the fastest in the nation for household internet speeds, on par with, if not faster than, most major metropolitan areas.
The four new fiber upgrade projects will support homes, apartments, and businesses in one new location in Washington, and three in Oregon. They are:
- Washington – Westport
- Oregon – Banks, Glendale and Riddle
Fiber construction is already complete to hundreds of addresses in Banks and Riddle, with a few hundred more to be built in the coming weeks in each town.
“For far too long, people and businesses in these communities have been without access to the kind of fast, reliable internet larger metro markets have enjoyed for years,” said Harold Zeitz, CEO of Ziply Fiber. “We’re proud of the work we’re doing in these towns and can’t wait for people to see the transformative impact fiber can bring to their communities.”
What to Expect During Ziply Fiber Construction
Pre-construction has already begun and network design and permitting are well underway. Following final design approvals and permit issuance, residents will see trucks and crews begin to run fiber aerially between telephone poles and underground in some areas. The network construction will take several months to complete and will include the installation of network equipment that will house the infrastructure needed to run and manage the network in each area. The company expects to connect its first sets of customers to its ultra-fast fiber network in some markets later this Spring.
Ziply Fiber’s goal is always to leave an area in a condition as good, if not better, than it was before construction began. If residents notice something has been missed, the company wants to know about it and asks that details be shared at ziplyfiber.com/constructioncleanup.
This upgrade work is part of Ziply Fiber’s commitment to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build an advanced, 100-percent fiber network to both suburban and rural communities across the Northwest that have been underserved when it comes to internet access. The company has been actively building fiber across the Northwest since June 2020 and has plans to build and deploy new fiber-optic cables, local hubs, new offices, and new hardware to run the network as part of hundreds of additional projects across its 250,000-square-mile footprint.
The Many Benefits of Fiber Internet
Fiber internet, unlike other options like cable or satellite, provides the bandwidth and capacity to keep entire families streaming without interruption, provides symmetrical upload and download speeds to easily power video conferencing and online gaming, and was built with the reliability to last residents and businesses for decades.
Ziply Fiber offers many different service options for residents, including:
- FREE or reduced cost monthly internet service for qualified people as part of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a benefit program from the FCC. To learn more about ACP, please visit ziplyfiber.com/community-discount-programs.
- The Fiber 50/50 plan, which at $20/month provides all the reliability of fiber at an affordable price with no annual contract requirement
- Ziply Fiber’s most popular Gig-speed plan
- The company’s ultra-fast, high-capacity 2-gig or 5-gig connections
Ziply Fiber’s primary service offerings are fiber internet and phone for residential customers, business fiber internet, and Ziply voice services for small businesses, and a variety of internet, networking, and voice solutions for enterprise customers. The company will continue to support Ziply Internet (DSL) customers and its TV customers in Washington and Oregon. A full listing of products and services can be found at ziplyfiber.com.
About Ziply Fiber
Ziply Fiber is local in the Northwest, headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, and has major offices in Everett, Washington; Beaverton, Oregon; and Hayden, Idaho. Most of Ziply Fiber’s executive team, which consists of former executives from AT&T, CenturyLink, and Wave Broadband, either grew up in the Northwest or have spent the better part of 30 years living here. That local ownership and market familiarity is an important part of the company’s mindset and culture.
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