IQ Fiber, a fiber optic residential Internet service provider in Northeast Florida, put its first customers online in September after months of preparation.
The provider recently activated the first portion of its private Internet network in the San Jose forest, and the San Marco and Atlantic Beach networks are expected to come online in stages over the next few months to meet its goal of serving 60,000 customers in the area.
They are already planning to offer services in additional areas of Jacksonville and in Clay County.
Local internet company joins NEFL: IQ Fiber brings fiber optic home internet service to Atlantic Beach, San Marco
The network consists of underground wires and fiber optic cables that extend from the core Internet backbone straight into homes, enabling the fastest Internet speeds available.
Larry Roberts, one of IQ Fiber’s early customers, said he’s been on the network for about a week.
“We were interested and knew it was coming,” Roberts said. “We’ve seen teams come in and run the line first and that’s an interesting thing to watch.”
He said upload speed and price are the most appealing aspects of switching ISPs after being a Comcast customer for 26 years.
IQ Fiber’s network is capable of symmetrical speeds – meaning the same upload and download speeds – of up to 10 gigabits per second.
“I work part-time with video files, and uploading one of those video files over my previous connection was very slow and could take half an hour or maybe not work at all,” Roberts said. “[IQ Fiber’s] The upload speed is as fast as their download, and it proves to be right. I uploaded one of these large files and it took 35 seconds – from 35 minutes to 35 seconds.”
Kim Smithers, IQ Fiber’s chief marketing officer, said the best feedback the company has received is “that people are happy to have another supplier.”
“We had aggressive goals and we achieved those aggressive goals,” Smithers said.
Those goals include completing all fiber-related builds by the end of the year, and she said that with initial estimates of the timeline for that and for the number of customers they hope to have online by the end of the year, “on the right way” are years.
“We’re excited to bring a modern Internet option to tens of thousands more Jacksonville area residents,” said Ted Schremp, CEO of IQ Fiber, in a press release. “IQ Fiber is the only local residential fiber optic internet service provider in Northeast Florida and we are proud to be making this significant investment right here in our own community.”
IQ Fiber also recently announced plans to expand its fiber network to Jacksonville Beach, Beauclerc and Mandarin.
It will also begin its first projects in Clay County with Orange Park and Fleming Island. These expansions will represent an investment of US$45 million.
“Broadband Internet service is now critical to everyday life at home,” Jacksonville Beach Mayor Chris Hoffman said in an IQ Fiber news release. “Access and availability of this enhanced fiber-based technology is important to our residents, and we welcome IQ Fiber to our city.”
To support this rapid growth, the company has expanded its team to 50 local employees. This is in addition to its fleet of vehicles and three facilities, including a warehouse and a recently opened Engineering and Technical Operations Center at 4502 Lenox Ave.
The goal is to hire 60 staff to support the 60,000 homes it serves, Smithers said, and IQ Fiber will continue to hire support staff – primarily in contact center, installation and drop crew positions – as the number of customers increases .
Smithers said IQ Fiber is adding a steady number of customers every day and has plans for further expansion in residential construction over the next five years.
Residents can sign up for email updates on network builds in their area at iqfiber.com.
IQ Fiber’s three service plans offer symmetrical internet speeds ranging from 250 to 1,000 megabytes per second and Wi-Fi services throughout the home with a simple app to manage connections and settings.
“Basically, I didn’t have any other options until IQ Fiber,” said Roberts. “I hope their service can be offered to every neighborhood in Jacksonville. I am very happy that they started our neighborhood. I know that nowadays there are many people who need a good internet connection. Good internet is no longer an option for me – everyone has to have it.”
