Competitive broadband provider Highline has joined the multi-gigabit club. The company said it is providing symmetrical 2 Gbps service to 32,000 residences in the Escanaba area of the Upper Peninsula and in the Thumb areas of Michigan.
Highline began providing service in Michigan in October 2021. By the end of last year it was serving customers in Sanilac, Tuscola, St. Clair, Lapeer, Mackinac, Chippewa, Schoolcraft, Delta, Menominee, Dickinson, Iron and Gogebic counties.
Highline says that it is working on fiber broadband networks that will provide 1 Gbps or 2 Gbps to homes and businesses in 10 other Michigan counties by the end of the year.
The company also operates in Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas.
“Highline is fulfilling our promise to construct and provide high-speed Internet to over 50,000 households in Michigan, and we feel that the needs of many residents will be better met with our new bundle plans that [allow] working, streaming and gaming to be fulfilled with 2 Gigabit speeds,” Highline CEO Layne Levine said in a press release.
“These symmetrical download and upload speeds will allow residents to work from home, stream multiple devices, and compete on any game. We hear the needs of Michigan residents and want to provide the services that they require, and also deliver these services with superior customer service experience that has been missing from service providers of the past.”
Gigabit and multi-gigabit services are becoming table stakes in many places, including Michigan.
In February, Metronet said that it had begun an expansion in Grand Rapids. The project would provide multi-gigabit service with the goal of making Grand Rapids a “certified Gigabit City.” The first customers are expected to be connected to the network this summer.
In September 2021, Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op announced a multiyear fiber broadband project that would provide gigabit services to more than 30,000 addresses in northeast Michigan including Alpena, Cheboygan, Montmorency, Presque Isle and portions of Alcona, Emmet, Mackinac – which also is served by Highline – Oscoda and Otsego counties.
