Midwest operator altafiber, formerly known as Cincinnati Bell, has undertaken a $100 million investment to deliver fiber to approximately 52,000 addresses across Ohio’s Warren County as part of a public-private partnership deal with the government there.
Construction is already underway, an altafiber representative told Fierce, and is expected to be complete by the end of 2026, though fiber service will be available this year. The public-private partnership with Warren County will allow altafiber to provide service for 50,000 single family units as well as 2,000 multi-dwelling units.
With the $100 million, which will go towards fiber backbone extension, altafiber said it plans to deliver 2-gig symmetrical speeds to consumers and businesses. The operator will eventually be able to offer 10 Gbps speeds on its XGS-PON fiber deployment.
The representative added altafiber “will be working closely with officials at the county and municipal level to coordinate the rollout.” The county’s Board of Commissioners has approved an additional $4.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to support the project.
Altafiber is further enhancing broadband coverage by providing Warren County with up to $200,000 in funding to construct public Wi-Fi improvements. The operator is distributing the money through UniCity, its Smart City organization.
According to the Federal Communications Commission’s national broadband map, altafiber (which shows up under its old name) serves around 63% of locations in Warren County.
Other notable fixed broadband providers, per the map’s data, include Charter and T-Mobile – each with over 90% of units served – along with three satellite broadband providers (Viasat, SpaceX and HughesNet). Bear in mind the only data available is as of June 30, 2022.
Warren County is just one of several public-private ventures from altafiber. Earlier this month, altafiber announced a partnership with Ohio’s Butler County to extend its fiber network to an additional 58,000 locations.
Other fiber build locations include Greene County, Ohio; Kentucky’s Boone and Kenton counties; and Greendale, Indiana. All told, altafiber has invested more than $1.5 billion to expand its network across those three states.
Roughly one year has passed since the company rebranded to altafiber. Prior to that, Macquarie Infrastructure Partners acquired Cincinnati Bell for $2.9 billion, a transaction that was completed in September 2021.