Nearly 800 homes and businesses in Greene County will be able to get high-speed fiber internet for the first time, due to a $5.2 million public–private partnership with broadband provider Kinetic, officials said.

The project, expected to start in mid-November and be completed in the spring, will provide internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second to eligible homes and business in parts of the townships of Aleppo, Freeport, Gilmore, Perry, Springhill and Wayne.

Under the partnership, the county will support the project with $2.5 million through a grant of that amount that it received from the Appalachian Regional Commission. Kinetic will invest $2.7 million and cover any cost overruns.

Kinetic plans to lay about 105 miles of optical fiber cable to bring high-speed internet to residences, businesses and schools.

Residents and businesses will not need to wait until the project is completed to sign up for the service. They will be able to sign up as soon as the optical fiber reaches their building.

“The Greene County Board of Commissioners is pleased to get the rollout and installation of this long-awaited project under way,” commission Chairman Mike Belding said at an event at the Springhill Community Center announcing the project.

“This project will give nearly 800 currently underserved or unserved homes and businesses in places like Aleppo, Ashtree, Brock, New Freeport and Spraggs access to broadband as fast as 1 gigabit a second,” he said. “We continue to seek opportunities to provide high-speed internet access to every resident, business and industry in Greene County.”

Kinetic’s ultrafast fiber-optic broadband lets users download and upload, equally in both directions, at up to 1 gigabit per second, or 1,000 megabits per second, providing what is widely known as “next-generation access.”

The median download speed in Pennsylvania is about 191 megabits a second, and the median upload speed is about 24 megabits a second, Ookla’s Speedtest indicates. Ookla is a web testing and network diagnostics company that compares internet data speeds across the country.

“High-speed internet access is not a luxury but a necessity,” said state Rep. Bud Cook, R-Clover Hill. “On behalf of our citizens and employers, I thank Kinetic for its commitment to meeting this very important need in our community.”

County Commission Vice Chairman Betsy McClure said: “I am very happy for this world-class internet service, which will benefit so many remote communities in Greene County. This partnership will let the great people of this county stay connected with school, healthcare services and family, and is critical to the success of our economy and to future job creation. Greene County is fortunate to have a community partner like Kinetic providing the best solution to connectivity for our residents and businesses.”

The Central Greene School District is “excited to be among the beneficiaries of Kinetic’s fiber broadband,” Superintendent Kevin Monaghan said.

“Fiber broadband will be a game-changer for our education system,” he said. “It will provide our students and teachers with the high-speed, reliable internet access they need for innovative learning experiences. This technology will equip our schools with the tools to prepare students for the future, ensuring they have access to the best resources and opportunities available.”

Kinetic Pennsylvania government affairs Vice President Jeanne Shearer added: “We are honored the Greene County Commissioners continue to trust in Kinetic to deliver on a shared goal to bring exceptional internet to all of Greene County. We are excited to start construction. With this project, and several others across the county, Greene County is well on its way to celebrating ‘turning Greene County green.’ Kinetic is thrilled to be a part of that great mission.”

Households and businesses wanting to find out if they will be eligible for a fiber broadband upgrade may visit GoKinetic.com. They may also call Kinetic locally at 814-807-4667.

The Greene County fiber project is part of a $2 billion multiyear capital investment strategy that Kinetic undertook to dramatically expand gigabit internet service across its 18-state footprint.

Kinetic’s superfast, reliable fiber connections in Greene County empower residential customers to gig speeds to navigate the internet safely from home with no lag times while they work, participate in virtual classrooms or stream entertainment services. Businesses from small to enterprise size can take advantage of the fiber-backed network to deploy solutions that make their companies more efficient and profitable such as OfficeSuite UC^® and SD-WAN.

To learn more, visit GoKinetic.com.

About Kinetic

Kinetic by Windstream is a business unit of Windstream Holdings, a privately held communications and software company. Kinetic provides premium broadband, entertainment and security services through an enhanced fiber network to consumers and businesses primarily in rural areas in 18 states. The company also offers managed communications services, including SD-WAN and UCaaS, and high-capacity bandwidth and transport services to businesses across the U.S. Additional information is available at GoKinetic.com. Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @GoKineticHome.

Category: Kinetic

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231017608413/en/