Altice, which offers broadband and video service under the Optimum brand, will invest $4.4 million to upgrade Tyler, Texas’ emergency and government infrastructure with a fiber network, continuing a 15-year partnership with the city, the company announced this week.
The money is being used for a project that is already underway — construction of 40 miles of strategically designed fiber routes. The fiber network will help improve reliability and communications redundancy for Tyler’s police stations, fire departments, and major government buildings, helping to ensure these critical community services stay connected.
The project adds on to the company’s previous $4.6 million network transformation investment announced in August 2024. When completed, the expanded network will provide gigabit speeds and allow for future enhancements.
Optimum is also broadening its fiber footprint to boost connectivity for local hospitals and businesses, including Smith County and Tyler schools.
“Our investment underscores Optimum’s dedication to Tyler’s people and institutions,” Amanda Seabaugh, Optimum vice president general manager, said in a prepared statement.
“We’re proud to deliver future-proof fiber connections that empower first responders, government entities, and businesses with exceptional reliability. This partnership reflects our ongoing promise to serve and strengthen the Tyler community for years to come.”
The Tyler expansion is part of the company’s broad plans to upgrade its network to support multi-gigabit speeds using a combination of fiber broadband and DOCSIS.
Earlier this year, Nate Edwards, executive vice president for network services for Optimum, shared some of the technical details of the network upgrade plans with Telecompetitor. “We’re upgrading to multi-gigabit speeds via mid-split technology on our DOCSIS 3.1 network,” Edwards said.
Mid-split technology increases the amount of bandwidth that the coaxial portion of a hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network can carry. In particular, it gives a substantial boost on the upstream path.
