Dobson Fiber says that it is launching 10 Gbps tiers to Enid, Atoka and Weatherford, OK. The regional operator said that it will offer that speed in all future expansion markets.
“Reaching 10 Gig speeds requires innovation and deployment of the latest technology. We know that consumer demands for bandwidth will continue to increase year after year,” Dobson Fiber CEO Francisco Maella said in a press release. “That is why Dobson stays on the forefront of the latest technology; not only to launch innovative products and solutions today, but to be forward-thinking, prepared for what is coming down the pipeline in the future.”
In February, Dobson Fiber acquired Pinnacle Communications, which was a provider of fiber to business and residential customers in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The deal brought Dobson into the Arkansas market, enlarged its network to 4,500 route miles and increased the addressable businesses to which it has access to more than 35,000 locations.
The deal came less than a month after the company rebranded from Dobson Technologies to Dobson Fiber.
The broadband industry has gradually been increasing its speeds. In addition to normal growth, demand for bandwidth — and operators’ apparent comfort in adding high-speed tiers — has been exacerbated by usage spikes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some examples:
- Last week, Telecompetitor reported that Jade Communications was offering 2 Gbps speeds via fixed wireless in Manassa, which is in the southern part of Colorado. The company is using equipment from Cambium that is based on Terragraph technology that originally was developed by Facebook.
- Last month, TDS Telecom announced 2 Gbps speed tiers in Spokane, WA and Meridian ID. The company said at that point that all new markets will be offered symmetrical networks at that speed. Earlier in the month, TDS agreed to build a 500-mile, 2 Gbps FTTH network in Billings, MT.
- In December 2020, North Dakota fiber provider MLGC introduced 5 Gbps tiers in several rural markets. The carrier already had offered 2.5 Gbps speeds. The company said that the move to 5 Gbps would be immediate and cover several communities, including a suburb of Fargo.
