Project will mark the company’s third new fiber build market in Oregon that is ready for service in less than a year; nearly 2,500 households and businesses have access today
Kirkland, Wash. (Feb 22, 2021) – Ziply™ Fiber today announced that it has completed a critical phase of the fiber-optic network build-out in La Grande, Oregon, that will for the first time deliver gig-speed fiber internet and an all-new, state-of-the-art network to area residents and businesses, beginning Mon, Feb 22. Nearly 40 percent of the approximately 6,600 residential and business addresses within our service area will be ready for fiber service immediately and the remainder is scheduled for completion early this year. Those who wish to check their address for fiber availability, or who would like to sign-up to be alerted when fiber internet is available at their home or business, can register at https://ziplyfiber.com/LaGrande.
Ziply Fiber is supporting local communities like La Grande to help improve internet connectivity to be on par with larger metropolitan areas throughout the nation. Residents and businesses will benefit from the significant upgrade that no data cap, gig-speed fiber internet provides when uploading and downloading content. The capacity fiber affords customers is critical in today’s online world to eliminate the hassles of slow and interrupted service such as streaming lag or dropped web conferences and the frustrations of incurring unnecessary data cap fees charged by other providers because of a poorly architected network.
“Ziply Fiber is proud to be in La Grande helping to serve a vital need for this community. City leaders have been wonderful partners during the build-out process and have acted quickly to assist us in bringing a reliable and lightning-fast fiber internet network to this area for the first time. Businesses and residents will now have access to the kind of critical connectivity that people need no matter where they live,” said Harold Zeitz, CEO of Ziply Fiber.
The company is investing $500 million and building an advanced fiber network to smaller towns and rural communities across the Northwest that have been underserved when it comes to internet access. When the first addresses are lit-up throughout La Grande on Wednesday, it will be the third fiber build project in Oregon that’s ready for service in less than a year.
“I am excited to know that last-mile fiber will be available to every residence in the city. Not only will this infrastructure improve internet speeds for entertainment and personal use, but it will also provide current and future businesses the connectivity they need for a strong web presence and active e-commerce trade,” said Steve Clements, Mayor of La Grande. “Having fiber available to home and business also allows the city to promote work-at-home opportunities, tapping into the trend of professionals moving to smaller communities away from urban centers.”
While work will continue over the next several weeks in a staggered rollout across the city, Ziply Fiber already has deployed many miles of new fiber-optic cables throughout the region and will continue to build out more territory. The company believes that everyone – not just those who live in big cities – should have access to fast and reliable internet without data caps. Ziply Fiber has been actively building fiber to underserved markets across the Northwest since June 2020. While it will take time to upgrade 250,000 square miles of land throughout Ziply Fiber’s four-state footprint with new fiber-optic cables, local hubs, new offices, and immense amounts of new hardware to run the network, the company is capitalized for and committed to hundreds of more projects in its service area.
As the company continues its rollout of fiber-based services across the region over the next several months and years, its 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 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.
The next several months will be busy ones for the company, as additional fiber build projects will hit key stages where gig-speed fiber internet service can be turned on in fiber build locations throughout the region.
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 DSL and TV customers. 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