State officials applaud the company’s fiber construction and service launches; Since the company began in May 2020, Ziply Fiber has expanded fiber to 16 new markets and added more than 400 employees across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana
Kirkland, Washington (April 30, 2021) – Today, on its 365th day as a company, Ziply™ Fiber announced plans to bring gig-speed fiber Internet service to an additional 22 markets across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana this calendar year. This expansion will focus mostly on smaller and rural towns, and is part of the company’s multi-year $500 million investment in its network and improved service in both urban and rural settings throughout the region.
This announcement comes on the heels of last week’s launch of fiber service in Moscow, Idaho, the company’s 16th new fiber market since it began its four-state fiber expansion last spring, after acquiring the Northwest assets of Frontier Communications for $1.35 billion. Since that time, the company has hired more than 400 new employees and has laid more than 1,000 miles of new fiber to help improve internet connectivity in rural areas to be on par with larger metropolitan areas, and has added thousands of customers onto its new fiber network.
“The speed and reliability that fiber delivers to residents and businesses is critical in today’s online world where web conferences, online learning and streaming entertainment are often all happening at the same time, something outdated technologies were never meant to support,” said Harold Zeitz, CEO of Ziply Fiber. “We’ve spent the past year investing in and constructing an all-new, state-of-the-art fiber-optic network, purpose built to deliver symmetrical upload/download speeds to residents and businesses, and we’re thrilled to be able to announce the next 22 markets that will leverage these improvements later this year.”
These developments have been hailed by state leaders across the Northwest.
“Today’s announcement is great news for individuals, families, and businesses who have been struggling with connectivity in Eastern Washington,” said Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05). “I applaud Ziply Fiber for their commitment to expanding broadband to our rural communities, including towns like Malden that continue to rebuild critical infrastructure in the wake of last year’s devastating wildfires. In Congress, I will continue leading to help close the digital divide so that everyone has the ability to participate in our 21st century digital economy.”
Idaho Department of Commerce Director Tom Kealey said “This important new announcement from Ziply Fiber is essential in expanding the digital footprint in Idaho and bringing new reliable internet connectivity to communities, residents and businesses across the state. This infrastructure investment will have positive, long-lasting results for their residents by providing digital learning opportunities, teleworking capabilities and telehealth. We thank Ziply Fiber for its investment in Idaho.”
Daniel Holbrook, broadband manager for the Oregon Broadband Office, added “Congratulations to Ziply Fiber on their first birthday. The Oregon Broadband Office appreciates their efforts to help close the digital divide by expanding fiber to these additional rural Oregon communities.”
Washington State Broadband Office Director Russ Elliott commented “The Washington State Broadband Office is excited to see the towns and locations outlined in this press release as priority areas for fiber investment by Ziply Fiber. These areas have been identified on the state mapping program as unserved and this investment will increase access for many rural communities instantly offering connectivity that will exceed the statewide goals.”
Ziply Fiber is in early-stage planning and permitting in these markets, but expects to turn-up service by Labor Day to tens of thousands of homes, apartments and businesses in:
“These markets represent just the beginning,” added Zeitz. “We’re currently drawing up plans for additional builds this coming fall and winter in all four states. As I’ve always said, we believe you don’t have to live in a big city to get great Internet. We’re investing in smaller and rural markets every day, and we continue to make improvements to ensure that our customers have a refreshingly great experience when they engage with us.”
As part of its work in its four-state service area, construction crews will be busy building fiber service in stages through several areas of each city and town. While the work will take several weeks and months to fully complete, the company expects to connect its first sets of customers in each town this summer and add more and more addresses each week as the build continues.
While it will take time to upgrade 250,000 square miles of land throughout Ziply Fiber’s four-state service area with new fiber-optic cables, local hubs, new offices and new hardware to run the network, the company is capitalized for and committed to hundreds more projects.
“All of this work is to support our promise to customers to be consistently on, reliably fast and confidently ready for whatever comes their way,” added Zeitz. “We’re an honestly local company and are proud to be bringing this great service to communities throughout the Northwest.”
As the company continues its rollout of fiber-based services across the region over the next several months and years, its Ziply Internet (DSL) customers also will begin seeing service improvements. Part of Ziply Fiber’s investment is going to work that’s well underway to improve its core and aggregation network, across which all Ziply internet traffic travels. While there’s still more work to be done, by improving the quality, capacity and reliability of those critical network components, customers of all types of services will benefit.
Ziply Fiber’s primary service offerings are Fiber Internet and phone for residential customers; Business Fiber Internet and Ziply Voice services for small businesses; and a variety of Internet, networking, and voice solutions for enterprise customers. The company will continue to support Ziply Internet (DSL) customers and its TV customers in Washington and Oregon. A full listing of products and services can be found at get.ziplyfiber.com.
Ziply Fiber is local in the Northwest, headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, and has major offices in Everett, Washington; Beaverton, Oregon; and Hayden, Idaho. Most of Ziply Fiber’s executive team, which consists of former executives from AT&T, CenturyLink and Wave Broadband, either grew up in the Northwest or have spent the better part of 30 years living here. That local ownership and market familiarity is an important part of the company mindset and culture.
Media Contacts:
Dan Miller, Curator PR for Ziply Fiber Boone Helm, Curator PR for Ziply Fiber
206-979-4055 425-614-5898