Regional operator NorthState is expanding its reach and building an all-fiber broadband network to serve 38,000 addresses in Forsyth and Randolph counties, North Carolina, the company announced today.
The project will reach 23,000 addresses in underserved Forsyth County areas of Bethania, Lewisville and Winston-Salem. In Randolph County, the project will provide almost comprehensive coverage to 15,000 addresses in Asheboro, Franklinville and Ramseur.
NorthState says that most customers in the two counties currently are served by cable or DSL and that about 28% of the expansion in Randolph County is to areas where only DSL is available.
NorthState will offer data speeds as fast as symmetrical speeds of 2 Gbps in the new markets.
The $51 million project, which includes 683 miles of fiber will be fully funded by NorthState. Engineering work is beginning, with construction starting later in 2022. The company says that the project will be completed in less than two years.
“The demand for bandwidth is only increasing as consumers connect more and more devices—and use more and more two-way applications like Zoom and gaming—that demand not just high download speeds but equally fast upload speeds,” Jay Winn, NorthState’s Chief Customer Officer, said in a press release. “Fiber is the only technology that can meet these demands and unlock the potential of what’s next.”
NorthState provides fiber broadband, Wi-Fi voice and streaming services to almost 200,000 addresses in North Carolina and Virginia, where it is known as Lumos Networks. Both brands are rapidly expanding.
In February, NorthState said it will provide broadband service to more than 53,000 addresses in Alamance, Guilford, Orange and Wayne counties in North Carolina. About 39,000 of the addresses are in towns including Burlington, Gibsonville, Elon, Whitsett and Mebane. A majority of the Wayne County city of Goldsboro — about 14,000 addresses — will be covered as well.
Last month, Lumos said it will bring fiber broadband to almost 85,000 addresses in the Tidewater region of Virginia, including Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Portsmouth.
