Smithville launches residential gigabit fiber build in Bedford
BEDFORD, Indiana – Building on its existing commercial presence, Smithville launched a new residential multi-gigabit-capable fiber project in the city of Bedford, Nov. 1, according to Darby A. McCarty, Smithville Chairman and CEO. The new project will feature Smithville’s new multi-gigabit capacity for homes.
(Content from this media brief appeared on Southern Indiana Business Report, Inside Indiana Business, and the Times-Mail).
“We’ve been pleased to support area businesses and healthcare – including the IU Health Bedford hospital with our high-speed fiber service for several years,” said Ms. McCarty. “Now we’re pleased to launch both our nationally recognized fiber broadband service for homes, together with our new multi-gigabit capacity.”
Smithville high-speed fiber services features symmetrical gigabit (1,000 Mbps) for both download and upload speeds. The new network being built will offer options for higher speeds.
“Smithville has been a strong supporter of Bedford and the region for many years with commercial fiber service for our manufacturing, healthcare, and other businesses in the region,” said Bedford Mayor Sam Craig. “It’s a good day when a top 100 broadband company initiates high-speed connectivity for Bedford residents.”
“Smithville has been a strong partner and provider of services to the East Gate Business and Technology Center and several other firms in the Bedford region,” said Shance Sizemore, CEO of the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council. “Smithville’s new symmetrical gigabit service for Bedford homes will help elevate the quality of life for Bedford residents.”
The first phase of the planned Smithville fiber project will make high-speed connectivity available to about 300 homes in Bedford in the 14th area, later potentially expanding north and west to additional homes. Design is complete and Smithville expects to begin lighting up the new residential network with fiber residential service in early 2024.
“Over the past year we focused on upgrading legacy copper service to high-speed fiber in a number of our long-time rural service areas, which has been a continuing goal of Smithville,” Ms. McCarty explained. “By leveraging private investments, we can move faster and more efficiently to bring much-needed fiber capacity to these remote areas.”
Since being among the first to deploy commercial fiber developments in the early 1990s, Smithville has since actively made more than a quarter of a billion dollars of private investments in constructing fiber networks for Hoosier homes, businesses, educational institutions, hospitals, cities, and more.
Referencing Smithville’s long-time experience and expertise in fiber planning and construction, Cullen McCarty, Executive Vice President, noted that: “In the days ahead, symmetrical multi-gigabit-capable fiber infrastructure will continue to be the gold standard for high-speed connectivity – Smithville has and will continue to play a committed role in elevating Indiana’s strategic ability to compete in economic development and for its citizens to enjoy a higher quality of life through reliable, low latency, gigabit fiber.” Gigabit-level fiber will ultimately serve as the bedrock foundation for new technological deployments such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices.
He added: “We have additional projects that we’re considering or are already in the design stage – we remain both committed to state-of-the-art fiber builds and the deployment of smart technology to power residential and commercial fiber.”
In addition to Stinesville, new fiber networks under construction by the nationally recognized top 100 broadband company in 2023 include areas north, east, west, and southwest of Bloomington (Indiana). These include areas in southeast Greene County, the Stanford area southwest of Bloomington, the Indian Hills region in the Gosport area of Owen County, western Monroe County, and more. Well over 1,000 homes and businesses in these rural areas now have or soon will have high-speed fiber connectivity, according to Paul Quick, Smithville President.
“These recent projects have been completed while facing both storm-related challenges and terrain issues like dense rock in certain areas of southern Indiana,” Quick noted. “We have an excellent construction team that knows how to do what it takes to serve Hoosiers in rural communities and areas.”
Casey Smith, superintendent of outside plant for Smithville, regularly provides fiber construction video updates on social media, including Facebook and LinkedIn. People interested in exploring possible fiber or other services in the Smithville area can check online at https://www.smithville.com/statusmap/
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About Smithville
Nationally recognized for more than a decade as a Top 100 Broadband Company, privately owned Smithville is Indiana’s largest independent telecom company with more than 200 employees. As a fifth-generation, family-owned business, Smithville has been committed to delivering fast and reliable connectivity and legendary customer service for over a full century. The company is well-known as an industry leader and community supporter for rural Indiana. Since the early 1990s, Smithville has constructed more than 3,000 miles of high-speed, high-capacity fiber across more than 22 Indiana counties, representing private investments totaling upward of a quarter of a billion dollars.
In addition to its residential services, Smithville provides commercial fiber-based connectivity for businesses, university campuses, biotechnology companies, healthcare providers, government offices, residential centers, communities, and other entities, including the WestGate@Crane Technology Park and the Purdue Research Park. The company serves about 23,000 businesses and residences in southern and central Indiana. For more information, please visit www.smithville.com.
Media information: Michael Snyder, MEK