Comcast plans to deploy fiber broadband in a $9 million build in Spring Hill, Kansas, a company spokesperson told Telecompetitor. While cable companies traditionally have based their broadband offerings on hybrid fiber coax and DOCSIS technology, the news illustrates that the cable companies are more likely to use fiber broadband for greenfield deployments.
The two-year project will bring broadband service to more than 3,400 homes and businesses in the city. The expansion will cover more than 75 miles in the area and provide broadband speeds faster than 1 Gbps to consumers and as fast as 100 Gbps to businesses.
“Ensuring all Spring Hill residents have access to reliable, high-speed internet is a top priority for Comcast,” Kalyn Hove, the Regional Senior Vice President for Comcast, said in a press release. “As the world we live in becomes increasingly digital, we remain focused on not only bringing our broadband network to more Spring Hill homes and businesses but also on future-proofing our network to meet the ever-increasing appetite for education, business, entertainment and more.”
During the past three years, Comcast has invested more than $12.6 million in technology and infrastructure in Kansas. The Spring Hill project will bring the company’s investment in the state to $21 million.
Comcast is not the only game in town in Spring Hill. Last August, KsFiberNet completed a deployment, partially funded by the CARES Act. The $2 million in funding came through the Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) and Connectivity Emergency Response Grant (CERG) programs. In addition to Spring Hill, the network serves the Miami County communities of Osawatomie, Paola, and Olathe, Basehor; Garnett; Eudora; Parsons; Independence and Wellsville.
In 2020, PC Magazine posted data from satellieteInternet.com that looked at the fastest and slowest rural communities with populations of less than 10,000 and that are at least an hour from a major city. Spring Hill, which at that time had speed of 11.2 Mbps, which was among the slowest.
