Archtop Fiber starts installations in Midtown
Internet provider lays out expansion plans for city
High-speed internet provider Archtop Fiber says it has finished its pilot program in Midtown and plans to expand further there and in the Rondout Area this spring.
Nicole Manicchio, Archtop’s senior director of marketing, said Friday, March 8, that its fiber-based highspeed internet service is up and running in the area of Kingston High School and HealthAlliance Hospital. The company expects to reach more areas in Midtown and the Rondout Area by the second quarter, she added.
With the trial complete, Archtop is beginning installations for its regular first customers in the city, Manicchio said. She thanked the “friendly testers” who worked with the company during the trial.
Archtop expects to reach additional locations in Midtown and Uptown by the third quarter, Manicchio said. It plans to further expand its fiber-based internet service to Roosevelt Park and the southern part of the town of Ulster by the fourth quarter of this year, she added.
“We know this has been a long time coming,” Manicchio said, “and our team is laser-focused on bringing our network to these communities as quickly and effectively as possible.”
Archtop Fiber advertises internet speeds of up to 10Gbps (gigabits per second) and will offer symmetrical upload and download speeds.
According to Archtop’s website, the cheapest plan with 1gbps uploads and downloads is $69.99. A 2gbps plan is $89.99. The company also plans to offer an 8gbps plan for $239.99 a month in the future.
The company said it offers customers free equipment, free installation, free whole-home Wi-Fi and a two-year price guarantee with all plans.
Spectrum’s cheapest offering is $49.99 for a 300mbps download plan for one year. Other plans include 500mbps downloads for $69.99 for two years. A 1gbps download plan costs $79.99 for two years.
Mayor Steve Noble’s office said in November that the first phase of Archtop’s installation involved using 74 existing Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. utility poles for aerial fiber deployment, while the second phase of installation includes “microtrenching.”
“Microtrenching” is de
scribed as a minimally intrusive process that enables fiber lines to run through very narrow underground trenches, which will begin in the next couple of weeks, the mayor’s office said. Microtrenching is performed with special equipment and will not require street closings. Up to 1,500 feet of fiber optics can be run in one day in trenches measuring approximately 1 inch wide, the city said.
With headquarters in the town of Ulster, and overseen by a local executive leadership team, Archtop Fiber is building its permanent headquarters and customer care center at iPark 87 as part of the development of the former IBM and TechCity site.