Eight New Hampshire Towns to Partner with Consolidated Communications on Fiber Internet

More than 9,400 residents and businesses will benefit from new 1GB fiber networks

MANCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Consolidated Communications, (NASDAQ: CNSL), a top 10 fiber provider in the U.S., has been selected to build new fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) Internet networks in eight New Hampshire towns.

Residents in Marlborough voted to approve the partnership on March 16, joining Charlestown, Fitzwilliam, Gilsum, Goshen, Langdon, Troy and Unity, who recently approved their respective partnerships. These towns join a growing list of New England cities and communities who are partnering with Consolidated to enhance their town’s high-speed Internet access.

“We’ve seen the positive impact of high-speed internet on local communities and are excited to partner with these towns to deliver fiber, broadband services,” said Rob Koester, senior vice president, consumer product management at Consolidated Communications. “We are committed to expanding and improving rural broadband throughout our service area. Fiber internet is a major driver for lasting economic development, e-commerce and quality-of-life benefits and opportunities.”

When complete, the new town networks will connect more than 9,400 homes and businesses to faster, highly reliable broadband connectivity, including symmetrical speed up to 1 Gig, a significant increase over currently available speeds. Customers will be able to work and learn remotely, stream video, game and upload high-bandwidth content from multiple devices simultaneously.

“We congratulate Consolidated Communications and the local advocates who worked proactively and tirelessly to address broadband needs in their respective communities,” said Henry Underwood, GIS Specialist/Planner for the Southwest Region Planning Commission, which played a key role in organizing and facilitating meetings with a variety of broadband stakeholders. “These volunteers, municipal staff and concerned neighbors followed a path established by New Hampshire legislators and other Cheshire County communities to enhance this critical infrastructure and their future economic competitiveness, social capital, access to health care, education and more. We continue to appreciate the opportunity to serve as a facilitator and resource for the many communities and individuals as they make meaningful progress in this area.”

Public-private partnerships are a key component of Consolidated’s commitment to expand rural broadband access. Customers pay a subscriber fee which helps offset the cost of the operating agreement, resulting in no tax increases for residents. Several more towns in the state are scheduled to vote on partnering with Consolidated in the coming months.

In addition to public-private partnerships, Consolidated is making significant progress on its accelerated fiber build plan, including upgrading 300,000 locations in 2021. The availability of gigabit speeds will be transformational for hundreds of thousands of people and communities across the region.

About Consolidated Communications

Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSL) is a leading broadband and business communications provider serving consumers, businesses, and wireless and wireline carriers across rural and metro communities and a 23-state service area. Leveraging an advanced fiber network spanning 46,600 fiber route miles, Consolidated Communications is a top-10 fiber provider in the U.S. offering a wide range of communications solutions, including: high-speed Internet, data, phone, security, managed services, cloud services and wholesale, carrier solutions. From our first connection 125 years ago, Consolidated is dedicated to turning technology into solutions, connecting people and enriching how they work and live. Visit www.consolidated.com for more information.