LUDLOW — The big internet providers in Ludlow, like Verizon and Spectrum, may have competition on their hands. GoNetspeed, a relatively small internet service provider, recently finished building out a fiber optic network in town and is open for business.
GoNetspeed was created in 2021 through the merger of six smaller internet providers. Since then, the company has expanded to 11 states, including all of New England.
Ludlow was identified as “a promising market,” “quite a long time ago,” said GoNetspeed Chief Legal Counsel Jaime Hoare. “The construction we can do very quickly. The frustrating part from our perspective is the steps that come before the construction. Hoare explained that getting permission from utility pole owners, in this case Eversource and Verizon, can take more than a year due to the multi-party process used in Massachusetts.
Hoare described the fact that one of the pole owners, Verizon, is a competing service provider as “the elephant in the room.” He said, “Every customer we get takes food off their table.”
Nonetheless, the process moved forward and the $4.8 million fiber infrastructure buildout began in April. By May, GoNetspeed began signing up residents and businesses in Ludlow. The network can serve 4,800 customers. “I want them all,” Hoare said, but noted that even if they choose another provider, the presence of competition will drive down prices and improve customer service.
Fiber connections offer certain benefits over broadband internet connections via telephone line. Traditional broadband connections must switch between sending and receiving data, or uploading and downloading, along the same copper wire. Fiber connections can send and receive data at the same time.
Generally, fiber can also offer more data capacity or bandwidth. GoNetspeed provides bandwidths between 500 megabits per second and 2 gigabits per second. Alternatively, cable internet bandwidths run up to 500 megabits per second for download speeds and up to 50 for upload speeds.
The website states that more than 30 devices can be online at the same time at the highest bandwidth. “The great thing about fiber is it’s future-proof,” Hoare said. “The fiber can handle additional capacity” as it becomes needed.
GoNetspeed’s fiber internet prices range from $59 per month to $99 per month, depending on the bandwidth chosen, without a contract. Phone service can be added for $15 per month. In addition to what Hoare described as “competitive prices,” he added, “I’ll put our customer service against anyone else.”
While the company still has a relatively small footprint in Massachusetts — it provides service in Amherst and Ludlow and is beginning to move into Easthampton and Granby — Hoare said, “We have broader plans for the commonwealth.”
Richard Clark, GoNetspeed president and CEO said in a press release, “We are committed to bringing our service to residents in Western and Central Massachusetts, many of whom have lacked provider choice and access to high-speed fiber internet for far too long,” “We are grateful for Ludlow’s support as we begin installing our cutting-edge service throughout the area, powering up homes and businesses and propelling long-term community growth.”
For more information about GoNetspeed, visit gonetspeed.com.
