Fidium Fiber Internet service available in parts of the Twin Cities

A Fiberworks crew installs fiber-optic cable Thursday along Sabattus Street in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/Journal of the Sun

LEWISTON Fiber-optic Internet service is being rolled out in the Twin Cities.

Fidium Fiber, one of two companies vying for customers in the area, says the service is available to 18,000 homes and small businesses.

A map from Fidium Fiber indicates where the internet provider built its network and approximate accessibility of Fidium in the Lewiston and Auburn area by July. Image sent

The company didn’t specify where the service is available in Lewiston and Auburn, but said 12,000 more homes and small businesses will be connected to its network by July.

Last fall, Sarah Davis, senior director of government affairs at Consolidated Communications, parent company of Fidium Fibers, said she plans to connect about 35,000 homes in the area by the end of this year.

A Consolidated spokesperson said Wednesday that the difference between last year’s shared number and this year lies in the detailed engineering.

As our engineers go over the network, they refine the rough steps, address by address, said Nicole Elton. Construction is still covering the area we planned, we just have a clearer picture of how many actual useful addresses there are in that area.

Trucks and crews have been very visible throughout the area in recent months for Fidium Fiber and competitor GoNetspeed, operating fiber lines and monitoring infrastructure.

A map from GoNetspeed shows its current construction of fiber optic lines in Lewiston and Auburn. Image sent

GoNetspeed didn’t say when its services will be available in the Lewiston and Auburn area, or announce a pricing structure. However, entering your address into GoNetspeeds’ availability search brings up a map of where the company has already built. Entering an address for the Fidium Fibers availability search will show if the service is currently available there.

Fiber-optic Internet service is considered superior to cable or digital lines (telephone lines) for a variety of reasons. It’s connected to a service dedicated to each home, not a shared service like cable. Optical fiber offers a super-fast connection using light signals, which do not degrade with distance. Security is also enhanced by optical fiber, which doesn’t radiate its signal the way copper does, making eavesdropping or hacking much more difficult.

Fidiums 2 gigabyte service is $75/month, 1 gigabyte is $55/month, and includes free setup, no contracts, no data caps, and a free Wi-Fi router. Fidium also offers 250Mbps Internet for $60/month and 50Mbps service for $35/month. Prices are locked in for one year and increase after 12 months. Additional services include Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP, home phone and streaming TV packages available through partner services.

GoNetspeed’s website shows that 1 gigabyte (1,000 Mbps) service is $69.96 per month, 500 Mbps is $59.95 per month, and 250 Mbps service is $49.95 per month. The prices listed are a 12-month promotional price, after which prices will increase by $10 per month, to what is said to be GoNetspeeds standard price. GoNetspeed advertises no data caps, no contracts, and 24/7 live support.