Light Speed: FiberFirst opens in Killeen, offering multi

Dec 08, 2023

Brandon Harris, the city of Temple's assistant director of information technology, installs a fiber line downtown to connect Killeen ISD to the city's Grande Communications internet access point.

With the introduction of FiberFirst, an internet service provider partnered with Ubiquity, Killeen's businesses, schools and residents will have increased access to high-speed fiber-optic internet.

"We are very excited to bring FiberFirst to the Killeen community. As Killeen feeds directly into our nation's largest military station, it is important to provide the highest level network and customer service to support our troops," said Bryan Davis, executive vice president of sales and service at FiberFirst in a news release Monday.

The development of high-speed fiber lines by Ubiquity was first announced in February, with a news release describing $100 million investments to the towns of Georgetown, Hutto and Killeen. In April, the company released additional details, saying that the fiber internet services would be expanded out to Jarrell, Harker Heights, Taylor, Weatherford and Mineral Wells, in addition to Killeen, Hutto, Georgetown and the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth area. The infrastructure project is funded entirely by private investors.

FiberFirst's website describes four plans, ranging in internet speed and price: two-gigabytes at $115 a month, one-gigabyte at $75 a month, 500-megabytes at $65 a month, and 150 megabytes for $55 a month. The 150-megabyte and 500-megabyte plans all require a $99 installation fee, and the first three plans include a "free WIFI 6 router." Davis explained in a phone call Tuesday that the company will build directly out to the consumer to install fiber optic lines. The above plans represent the upload and download speed per second.

Business coverage appears to be the company's current focus, as Monday's news release focused on "businesses, schools and local municipalities," with Davis calling the development a "game-changer;’ residential coverage is expected to be available later this month.

According to Davis, Killeen can be represented by 19 total Serving Areas we are building out in Killeen.

"Ultimately when this is all done the expectation is to be able to cover 80% of all households and businesses," he said.

According to Davis, initial coverage will include around 7,000 residents.

"Eventually, however, the plan is to reach everyone in Killeen," he said. "For now, residents can check their coverage and let us know if they don't currently have coverage, but are interested in getting it."

The sales executive stated that the build-out program is currently slated to take about 12 months.

Additionally, the sales executive said that the company is also looking to provide five and ten-gigabyte internet access in the future and to expand to Copperas Cove by the second quarter of 2023.

The firm plans on offering a "low-cost option" of $30 for 100-megabyte internet in conjunction with the Affordable Connectivity Plan, a long-term low-income support plan which replaces the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program by offering $30 and $75 internet discounts based on income.

"We have offices on Elms Road in Killeen with a sales team," Davis said. "We just want people to know that all of the dollars spent in Texas stay in Texas."

Residents can check their coverage availability online at: https://www.fiberfirst.com.

[email protected] | 254-501-7552

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