Sonic, an independent ISP in California, has announced its biggest expansion to date.
The company, which claims to be the largest independent ISP in the state, now is accepting pre-orders for 19 neighborhoods in the San Francisco peninsula area: Burlingame, San Mateo, Hillsborough, South San Francisco and portions of Cow Hollow, parts of Pacific Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown, North Beach, San Carlos, Petaluma, Belmont, San Bruno, Millbrae, Redwood City, North Fair Oaks and Emerald Hills.
Installations will begin in the spring. “As interest in cable continues to decline and streaming services gain more traction, having high-speed, reliable internet is no longer a luxury. It’s a must-have,” Dane Jasper, co-founder and CEO of Sonic, said in a press release. “For those looking to escape cable’s monopoly, Sonic provides a fast and affordable alternative that can power everything from streaming entertainment services to laptops and tablets to smart home devices.”
Sonic, which has been in business for 25 years, offers what it says is unlimited and uncapped symmetric gigabit fiber and unlimited domestic and international phone service starting at $40 per month.
Late last year, Sonic introduced Whole Home Wi-Fi, which uses equipment from eero to provide better service in subscribers’ homes. The company said it would offer eeros Base (a tri-band router) for $8 per month and eero Beacon (a compact and cordless version of eero) for $4 per month.
The company made news in early 2016 when, the day after Google Fiber announced its intentions for the Bay area, Sonic announced aggressive pricing for the area. It said that it would drop its broadband phone price to $40 (about $58 after taxes and fees). That was barely more than half of Google Fiber’s announced $70 fee – and the same basic price in today’s announcement.
