Treasure Valley to get gigabit fiber optic internet service

A telecommunications company that is expanding fiber optic networking in North Idaho is bringing the same functionality to the Treasure Valley, including sections of west Boise, Meridian and Garden City.

TDS Metrocom, a business unit of TDS Telecommunications LLC, unveiled plans to build a fiber-to-home network in Meridian that will ultimately connect more than 57,000 homes and businesses across Meridian, Garden City and Boise, the Madison, Wisconsin, company said in a statement.

When completed, the fiber optic networks can deliver up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) internet speeds to homes and up to 10 Gbps internet speeds to businesses, the company said.

Pricing for the service wasn’t revealed, but similar service in North Idaho of up to 1 Gbps download and up to 400 megabits per second (Mbps) upload are priced at $70 per month when part of a bundle with other services and $75 per month unbundled. These are promotional prices for the next two years and don’t have data caps, according to the company.

Adding jobs

In addition, the company is hiring for four jobs in the telecommunications field in the Treasure Valley, including two outside residential sales representatives, a consumer specialist and a network specialist.

That’s in addition to what is expected to be 27 jobs and three retail locations associated with the North Idaho project.

“For TDS, our goal is to be the premier broadband provider in our chosen markets,” said Drew Peterson, senior vice president for corporate affairs, in an email message. “In the case of Coeur d’Alene, we are thrilled with the welcome and enthusiasm we have received from CDA and the surrounding areas. The first customers were connected in November of 2019 and services will continue launching in phases in the coming months. TDS plans to do very well in CDA, as our pre-sale numbers with customers are exceeding our internal expectations.”

Expansion in North Idaho

Last fall, the company began building its 700-mile fiber optic network in North Idaho. The North Idaho project is intended to bring fiber to homes in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden and Rathdrum. The company announced the project in May and started working on the network in June.

TDS said it is investing more than $100 million in the project. It is working with a contractor, Quanta Services, to lay cabling using existing utility easements and public rights-of-way as much as possible, with cabling itself placed in a conduit. When digging is necessary, Quanta will use drilling or plowing techniques intended to limit disruptions, TDS said. Once the conduit and fiber are installed, the trenches will be filled and grass will be replaced or reseeded, the company said.

While more metropolitan parts of North Idaho have enjoyed access to broadband internet, rural areas such as Rathdrum have not. Gov. Brad Little formed a task force earlier this year to look at options to improve broadband internet access in Idaho, which is expected to create a state broadband office housed within the state Department of Commerce.

Expansion in nearby states

TDS also recently announced that it had been granted a municipal franchise by the city of Spokane to build a 1,100-mile fiber-to-home network that will ultimately connect more than 88,000 homes and businesses across the community. The company didn’t say how many jobs that project would create.

TDS had been working with the cities of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene on partnerships that would have had the cities invest money in the network, such as getting back $1 million in fees from Coeur d’Alene. While those negotiations didn’t pan out, TDS decided to go forward with putting in the network anyway.

In addition to Idaho and Wisconsin, TDS also provides fiber-optic networking services to parts of Georgia and Tennessee. TDS Telecommunications has more than 1.2 million customers among nearly 900 rural, suburban and metropolitan communities across the U.S.