Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) has made its Glo Fiber service available to residents and businesses in Salem, VA – another step in its post-wireless future.
The FTTH gigabit service, which was launched in 2019, leverages Shentel’s 6,800 mile regional fiber network. In addition to Salem, the network serves the communities of Harrisonburg, Staunton, Front Royal and Winchester. In all, Glo Fiber passes more than 34,000 households.
Glo Fiber offers symmetrical high speed Internet access, streaming TV and unlimited local and long distance phone service. App-based Glo TV is compatible with Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick and many TVs with embedded streaming software, the company says. Speeds of up to 2 Gbps are offered, with a base tier of 300 Mbps for $65/month.
Shentel reported an average penetration of 15% for Glo Fiber, as of the end of 2020. The company is using XGS-PON technology and eventually plans to reach 300K homes passed by the end of 2026. Shentel reported adding 1,366 Glo Fiber subscribers in 1Q 2021.
“We are proud to offer Glo Fiber in Salem as a multi‐gigabit fiber‐optic network that addresses all the needs for today’s connected home and small business with a robust and scalable technology,” Chris Kyle, Shentel’s Vice President of Industry and Regulatory Affairs, said in a press release about the Shentel Glo Fiber expansion. “We are excited to continue the expansion of Glo Fiber’s footprint to further connect residents and business owners with a premium product, superior local service and choice in their Internet Service Provider (ISP).”
T-Mobile is in the process of exercising its option to buy Shentel’s wireless business, which serves about 1.1 million customers under the T-Mobile brand in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The two companies had disagreed on how much T-Mobile would pay, but accepted independent valuations of $1.95 billion. The deal is expected to close in early 3Q 2021.
With the wireless sale behind it, Shentel is plowing ahead on multiple fronts. In addition to Glo Fiber, Shentel announced Beam Internet last October, a fixed wireless service targeting Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio. Plans are for the service to use both 2.5 GHz mid band and CBRS spectrum. Shentel won 262 Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in 74 counties in the FCC’s CBRS mid-band spectrum auction.
I like to know is Huntington west Virginia and other places going to get the 2.5 spectrum and getting sprint towers putting 2.5 spectrum on it and all shentel area with it