Clearwave Fiber has been around for less than a year, but already the operator’s footprint has grown to encompass more than 100,000 passings across four states.
Formed in January as a joint venture between Cable One and a trio of private equity partners, Clearwave Fiber is aiming to reach 500,000 passings by the end of 2026. To be clear, the operator started its life with some passings already in hand. When the JV was formed, Cable One contributed some of its Hargray Fiber assets to the new company. But so far this year Clearwave has announced new build projects in Georgia, Illinois and Kansas. In March, it even acquired RG Fiber to jumpstart its expansion in the latter.
Earlier this week, Clearwave said its deployment of fiber to more than 3,100 locations in Lansing, Kansas is nearly complete and highlighted plans to build in Salina at the start of the new year. It expects to pass around 9,000 locations across the cities of Desoto, Lansing, Salina and Spring Hill in the state by early 2023.
Work in Georgia is also coming along at a steady clip. The operator said in October projects in the Savannah area – including on Wilmington and Whitemarsh Islands, Windsor Forest, Hinesville, Rincon, Pooler and Richmond Hill – were set to be completed by the end of November. It added a project bringing connectivity to more than 5,000 businesses in Peachtree Corners was due to wrap this month.
All told, Clearwave said it will end 2022 with a presence in 35 markets across four states. These include 17 markets in Illinois, four in Kansas, 11 in Georgia and three in Florida.
In November, the operator said it was on track to surpass its first-year goals, but did not specify what those were. The operator could not immediately be reached for comment.