GVTC expands FTTH service availability in Boerne, Texas

GVTC has reached an agreement with Boerne, Texas, to expand the reach of its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network to the remaining portion of the city it doesn't yet cover and extend to an additional 1,590 homes.   

Today, GVTC's fiber network covers about two-thirds of Boerne and includes more than 2,900 homes and 500 businesses. By reaching this new agreement with the city, GVTC can expand its network throughout the city, pushing its planned expansion from 4,625 to more than 4,960 homes.

One of the key elements of the agreement GVTC gained was the rights to use Boerne's existing utility poles to extend fiber connections to the city's remaining homes it has not build out to yet. The city of Boerne and GVTC are paying $77,500 each to third-party contractors for a utility pole load analysis and pole change out. GVTC said it expects the Boerne fiber network build to cost it $1.8 million.

Set to be completed within the next 24 months, Boerne will take its spot as the top 5 percent of cities its size in the United States that has been completely wired for fiber-based broadband access. The telco said that Boerne customers will be able to retain their current copper-based service or get the new 1 Gbps fiber-based service.

Boerne is just one of several Texas cities where GVTC is delivering its 1 Gbps FTTH services.

The service provider is also in the process of expanding its fiber network to over 3,100 homes in its "GigaRegion" initiative to areas around Boerne, Bulverde and Canyon Lake. It said work on the phase of this part of the project is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2015.

While there has been a flood of news around how neighboring Texas service providers like AT&T (NYSE: T) are rolling out 1 Gbps services in Austin and Dallas, GVTC's efforts are showing how Tier 2 telcos are being no less aggressive in the FTTH race.

In September 2014, the service provider announced that it had connected over 40,000 homes to its FTTH network with plans to extend service to another 2,600 homes in select residential neighborhoods.

For more:
- see the release

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