MARTINSBURG — Glo Fiber, powered by Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, Shentel, announced the expansion of its all-fiber network in Charles Town and Ranson, with service available in the first neighborhoods in January of 2022, and multigigabit broadband network in Martinsburg, with service starting this November.
“Shentel believes that everybody deserves better internet, and now, Glo Fiber can leverage Shentel’s 7,000-mile regional fiber network to ensure high speeds, low latency and fair pricing,” the release said. “Additionally, Glo Fiber prides itself on providing superior local customer service across all its markets, including the growing list of communities in West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania.”
According to Chris Kyle, vice president of industry and regulatory affairs at Shentel, fiber has a lot of advantages, and COVID put a spotlight on the advantages on the infrastructure.
“Fiber to the home is important when you have multiple people learning and working from home. It has faster speed, and it is a more reliable service. Another important thing is that the speeds are symmetrical, which means you can push as much bandwidth up to the internet as you bring down. When you are doing things like videoconferencing with multiple people in the home, that is what people need in their homes now,” Kyle said. “We don’t think those trends are going away. Just as important, people want a choice.”
He said expansion of the technology became a part of the conversation a couple of years ago with an idea of creating a competitive offering for broadband that would compete with Comcast.
“Martinsburg is one of West Virginia’s fastest developing cities, and Glo Fiber looks forward to providing this community with reliable and affordable internet required for a growing market,” Kyle said. “We are excited to continue this expansion and offer a dependable internet choice with straightforward, fair pricing.”
City of Martinsburg Mayor Kevin Knowles said that having the choice between companies for internet is exciting for the city.
“Having Glo Fiber bring a high-speed internet choice to the citizens of Martinsburg is an exciting prospect for the city,” Knowles said in the official press release. “Glo Fiber’s investment and commitment to our community comes at a time when having an internet infrastructure built for the future is critical for our growth.”
He added that by the end of the year, Charles Town and Ranson will hopefully have the technology launched, and then, the company will begin expanding from there.
“We are very excited. The fiber is a superior technology compared to what you have there today. A couple of years ago, we did Winchester, and we have been building out Charles Town and Ranson which will launch later this year, and they are very excited,” Kyle said.
Over 4,000 homes and businesses in Charles Town and Ranson will benefit from Glo Fiber’s high-speed data, streaming TV and digital phone service.
“The city is thrilled to have a new provider in the community that gives our residents more choices when it comes to purchasing cable and internet services,” said Charles Town City Manager Daryl Hennessy in the official press release.
Ranson City Manager Tony Grant added in the release, “We, too, are excited to expand the options for high-speed internet with Glo Fiber’s fiber-to-the-home technology, which will also deliver video and phone services to our residents.”
In addition to symmetrical, high-speed internet access, streaming TV and unlimited local and long-distance phone service, Glo Fiber offers optional wall-to-wall Wi-Fi service.
Using Wi-Fi 6 technology, the release said that customers can connect anywhere throughout their home or business with the assurance of advanced protection and automatic updates.
Glo TV service is delivered via an app and is compatible with Apple TV, Amazon’s Fire Stick and many smart TVs with embedded streaming software. Glo internet pricing is all-inclusive with no additional fees or surcharges, excluding taxes the release added.
“Jefferson County is a rapidly growing residential area, so our expansion into this area is a very exciting time for the company,” Kyle said. “We’re looking forward to offering dependable and cost-effective internet to those who need it. We have to be cost competitive. While this is a superior technology, the cost will be in the range of Comcast.”
To learn more about Glo Fiber, visit www.glofiber.com. For more information about Shentel, visit www.shentel.com or call 1-800-743-6835.
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