500 More in Apollo, North Apollo, Cherry Lane, Orchard Hills by Spring

Some 2,200 homes, businesses and schools in western Armstrong County are now eligible for high-speed fiber internet, local officials and broadband provider Kinetic said.

Another 500 are expected to be able to get fiber broadband by spring 2024, bringing the total number of customers to about 2,700.

The communities getting the wide-bandwidth fiber internet now and in the spring are Apollo, North Apollo, Cherry Lane and Orchard Hills.

Kinetic is laying about 40 miles of optical fiber cable as it works its way through these communities to bring high-speed internet to customers.

“I am very happy this world-class telecommunications upgrade will benefit communities across Armstrong County,” state Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, said in a statement for a ribbon-cutting event at the Apollo Area Historical Society announcing the project’s completion.

“High-speed internet allows folks in this beautiful area to stay connected with school, healthcare services and family, and is critical to the success of our region’s economy and to future job creation,” he said.

No one needs to wait until the project is completed to sign up for the service. Households and businesses may sign up as soon as the optical fiber reaches their buildings, Kinetic said.

Customers are invited to visit GoKinetic.com to find out if they are eligible for a fiber broadband speed upgrade. They may also call Kinetic locally at 814-807-4667.

Kinetic’s ultrafast fiber-optic broadband lets users download and upload, equally in both directions, at up to 1 gigabit a second, or 1,000 megabits a second, providing what is 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, a division of technology and media company Ziff Davis, compares internet data speeds across the country.

“This telecommunications upgrade will benefit both homes and businesses,” state Rep. Abby Major, R-Leechburg, said in a statement for the Oct. 17 event.

“Reliable and fast internet are a vital part of today’s society,” she said. “Lack of service or slow service can make it difficult for a child to complete their homework, prevent someone from participating in needed telehealth or keep a business from functioning optimally. I thank Kinetic for its investment in our community.”

Kinetic Pennsylvania operations President Susan Schraibman said, “We at Kinetic are thrilled to bring our ultrafast, reliable fiber connectivity and best-in-class internet experience to homes, businesses and schools here in Armstrong County. This important county deserves exceptional internet, which will meet the county’s evolving demands for business, educational and personal use.”

Kinetic’s Armstrong County fiber project is part of a $2 billion multiyear capital investment strategy by Kinetic to dramatically expand gigabit fiber service across the company’s 18-state footprint.

Kinetic’s superfast, reliable fiber connections in Armstrong 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/20231017404010/en/