77% Covered: Hamilton County, Fl., now a Gigabit County Thanks to Kinetic

By: Windstream Holdings via Business Wire

September 19, 2024 at 09:00 AM EDT

Kinetic built 278 miles of fiber, covering 77% of county
4,509 locations now eligible for new fiber upgrade
$9 million expansion highlights successful public-private partnership

Fiber internet provider Kinetic has made 77% of Florida’s Hamilton County, or 4,509 homes and businesses, “fiber ready,” meaning residents who were previously unserved or underserved are now eligible to upgrade to one of the nation’s fastest broadband services.

Kinetic placed 278 miles of fiber optic cable to bring homes and businesses across the county faster connectivity to reliably work, stream, surf, and focus on education and telehealth.

“We are thrilled that Kinetic is bringing fiber internet to the majority of residents in Hamilton County,” said State Rep. Jason Shoaf (R). “We want to empower our community members and businesses with the speeds they need to unlock new opportunities, engage more easily with the digital economy, and create efficiencies in their everyday lives.”

The Hamilton County fiber expansion is an example of the impact a successful public-private partnership can have on a community, and has been an integral facet of Kinetic’s multiyear $2 billion strategy to bridge the digital divide.

To execute the project, Kinetic invested $7 million into Hamilton County’s broadband development. The Kinetic investment was combined with the $2 million Hamilton County poured into the area to bring residents and small business owners lightning-fast internet capabilities.

“This joint achievement with Hamilton County highlights our commitment to empowering our communities with high-speed internet,” said Stacy Hale, regional president of Florida’s Kinetic Operations. “Our focus was to deliver faster speeds, along with 99.9% network reliability, enhancing our Hamilton County customers’ experience and satisfaction.”

Kinetic’s fiber-optic broadband lets users download and upload, equally in both directions, at multi-gigabits per second.

The median download speed in Florida is only about 283 megabits a second, and the median upload speed is only about 23 megabits a second, Ookla’s Speedtest indicates. Ookla is an independent web testing and network diagnostics company that compares internet data speeds across the country.

Customers may check their own online speeds through Ookla at speedtest.windstream.net.

Households and businesses may call Kinetic toll free at 1-877-376-2062 to find out if they are, or will be, eligible for a fiber speed upgrade.

They may also preregister with Kinetic for fiber broadband at windstream.com/kinetic-fiber.

Hamilton County residents, education facilities, and libraries can access Kinetic’s free Digital Literacy Program, a 12-video course that teaches computer, basic office software and daily technology skills. Each course is designed for success by children as well as adults. The average time to complete a course ranges from five to 12 minutes.

To learn more, visit www.gokinetic.com.

About Kinetic:

Kinetic, a Windstream company, offers fiber-based broadband to residential and small business customers in 18 states. The company’s quality-first approach connects customers to new opportunities and possibilities by delivering a full suite of advanced communications services. Kinetic is one of three brands managed by Windstream. The company also offers managed cloud communications and security services to mid-to-large enterprises and government entities across the U.S. as well as customized wavelength and dark fiber solutions to carriers, content providers and hyperscalers in the U.S. and Canada. Windstream is a privately held company headquartered in Little Rock, Ark. Additional information about Kinetic is available at www.gokinetic.com or windstream.com.

Category: Kinetic