HENDERSON, Ky. – Ultra-high-speed internet service from the city’s electric company will be coming to Henderson homes over the next few months to a year.
Henderson Municipal Power & Light is undertaking a $16 million fiber-optic network expansion to bring multi-gigabit broadband service to every residence in Henderson, including apartments. This includes customers who are not served by HMP&L electric service, such as Kentucky Utilities customers in out-of-town areas.
Under construction
The contractor, Fiber Optics Solutions, has begun installing fiber optic lines on the utility poles. “We’re installing it on every HMP&L utility pole in our system, about 10,000 in total,” HMP&L general manager Brad Bickett said last week, adding that they’re also installing it in areas with underground power lines. Stated.
“Once (construction work) gets into full swing, there will be up to six to eight workers working on it,” he said. Residents will see Fiber Optic Solutions staff holding large fiber optic lines in their neighborhoods. Bickett said their trucks “are identified as working for HMP&L Fiber by magnetic markings.” Information letters will also be distributed to crew members.
“We started work last week, working downtown to hospitals along 6th, 7th and 8th Streets,” Bickett said. “We’ll expand from there and work south…we expect the entire city to be completed by next year, July 2025.” However, many residents are hoping for service sooner, as early as this spring. will be available.
“Soon, we plan to start running fiber optic lines from utility poles to homes and deliver them to individual customers,” he said. “We’re going to connect people (to gigabit services) along the way…We’ll start connecting people within a month.”
Residents interested in HMP&L Fiber services will be able to sign up online at www.hmpl.com in the coming weeks. In the future, “we’re going to step up our marketing,” Bickett said.
The Imperial apartment building at Third and Water streets already has “a small number of residential customers,” he said.
“By the end of 2025, we should be able to connect everyone who wants that internet service.”
Speed selection
Service options start at $79.95 per month and guarantee speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (also known as 1 Giga or 1 Gbps) with no data limits. About a decade ago, 10 megabit Internet service was considered very fast for home users. 1 gigabit service is equivalent to 1,000 megabit (also known as 1,000 megabits or Mbps) service, which is 100 times faster than 10 megabit internet.
Brian Hardesty, chief technology officer at HMP&L, says that “1 gig gives you a connection that is never going to be the limiting factor” in your broadband experience.
Or, as he succinctly put it, “very fast.”
Services will be symmetrical. This means that data can be uploaded (sent) as fast as downloaded (received). In the past, upload speeds were often a fraction of download speeds. While this wasn’t much of an issue for people who just consumed online content, it was a limiting factor for people who needed to send large files such as videos.
Consumers not only surf the web, but also use streaming services for TV and movies (including very high-quality 4K video on multiple TVs and devices), downloading software, connecting video door cameras and other security devices, and more. , are increasingly demanding faster internet service. Security Service Providers and Other Uses. The trend of employees working from home will only further increase the demand for fast internet services.
Households that require even faster service (such as online gaming) can purchase HMP&L Fiber 2 Gig service for $109 per month or 5 Gig service for $179.95 per month.
Once the customer has signed up for service and the contractor has completed running the fiber to the outside of the home, an HMP&L Fiber technician will come and complete the connection inside the home.
“It will be a managed WiFi service,” Bickett said. “We come and install it, and you’re ready to go. There are no additional fees.” This service includes customers’ smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, and other devices. Contains a gateway that allows you to connect wirelessly to services.
Once a home is installed, “we sit down with the customer and answer any questions,” he said.
Bickett said HMP&L provides customers with a superior broadband experience by providing everything from installation technicians to customer support locally.
HMP&L Fiber customers have the option to bundle VOIP (Voice over IP, or Internet) landline service for an additional $29.99 per month and receive a $15 discount on Internet service. For example, 1 Gig service bundled with phone service will cost $94.94 per month.
“We want to provide the best service at a competitive price that allows us to recover our costs,” Bickett said.
“Once we’re cash flow positive,” perhaps within a few years, “we might offer a slower package” at a lower cost, he said.
Why offer fiber?
Bickett said there were two reasons for the decision to offer fiber internet service.
First, “The financial model works. If we get the take rate we expect, we will have positive cash flow in year three.”
Second, Kenergy Corp.’s rural power service is building its own high-speed Internet service in rural areas, so “if we don’t provide service, our urban customers could potentially become the same as people in rural areas.” You won’t have a choice.”
Bickett said the City of Henderson is investing $12 million in HMP&L Fiber construction and a $5 million “Advanced He said he sold general obligation bonds to fund “metering infrastructure” projects. Save money.
competition
HMP&L Fiber will be competing against two major companies: AT&T and Spectrum.
AT&T is offering fiber optic service in a limited area of Henderson, advertising “up to 1 gig speeds” for $80 a month.
Spectrum cable TV service offers coaxial broadband service here, advertising up to 300 Mbps for $49.99 per month and up to 1 Gig for $69.99 per month.
Gleaner could not immediately find any local AT&T or Spectrum customers with up to 1 Gig service who ran an online test to determine actual speeds.
However, according to Ookla Research’s internet speed testing site speedtest.net, expected download speeds for AT&T Internet in Henderson range from about 75 Mbps to about 570 Mbps, and spectrum speeds range from 100 Mbps to about 375 Mbps. It says this is based on speed tests conducted by consumers between October and December 2023.
Corporate Customers
HMP&L’s fiber-to-home network is an extension of the fiber-optic broadband service the company has provided to commercial customers since 1999. Its fiber service is used by approximately 500 corporate customers, including all schools in Henderson County, including schools outside the county. (HMP&L also once offered wireless internet service to residential homes, but abandoned the service several years ago as it became outdated.)
“With the new network, existing business customers will automatically be upgraded to more bandwidth for the same or less price they pay today, increasing from 100 Mbps to 600 Mbps on the slowest service. ” Bickett said.
Monthly rates for standard business fiber services range from $59.95 for 600 Mbps service to $299.95 for 5 Gig service. Commercial customers also have a variety of other service and package options with speeds up to 10 gigs.
Bickett, who has 25 years of experience providing fiber optic communications services here, said: We truly offer the best internet options available today. ”
