LiveOak Fiber, a new fiber-based service provider, has gotten an initial investment of $150 million from InfraRed Capital Partners and announced projects in Glynn County, GA and Okaloosa County, FL.
InfraRed and LiveOak intend to provide 10 Gbps services to communities in the southeastern region. Construction on the initial two projects is expected to begin during the third quarter, with initial services available during the first quarter of next year.
“These initial deployments are in underserved areas that lack the critical connectivity needed to foster both a growing population and attract new businesses,” LiveOak Fiber president Jody Craft said in a press release. “Constructing and providing fiber-based broadband to these counties in Georgia and Florida will enable a rich suite of modern communication services for the residents and businesses.”
LiveOak Fiber provided details on the Glynn County project in a separate press release. It said that the company is investing $60 million in the project. Customer activation is scheduled to start in February, 2023. The project is expected to create 50 jobs in the county during the next three years.
InfraRed says that its investments will grow over time. The company, which is part of SLC Management, invests in “real assets” that contribute to an environmentally-friendly net zero future.
The formation of LiveOak Fiber and the announcement of plans to build in Florida and Georgia are examples of the money that is pouring into the broadband industry.
Some of this investment is in the form of public-private partnerships and others are based on private funding. Examples of the former are agreements announced last week between cable MSO Breezeline and various governmental entities in Maryland that will bring service to three counties in the state.
An example of the latter approach is the spate of announcements by Brightspeed, a service provider that is waiting to close a deal to buy the assets of Lumen Technologies and expand those holdings.
