Atlantic Broadband to provide internet to rural communities

Atlantic Broadband will be providing seven municipalities in Centre County the connectivity they desperately need, the company announced in a press release.

The company said it will bring fiber-optic internet, television and phone services to the communities this month.

The services will be available for the first time to nearly 2,000 homes and businesses in the Millheim, Aaronsburg, Spring Mills, Rebersburg, Madisonburg, Coburn and Woodward communities located in Miles, Haines, Gregg and Penn townships and Millheim Borough, in addition to a portion of Potter Township.

“Atlantic Broadband is pleased to serve the communications and entertainment needs of these communities with powerful fiber technology that will provide enhanced reliability and superfast internet speeds up to 1 Gbps for distance learning, work-from-home, telehealth, gaming, video streaming, and other connectivity needs,” said Danny Jobe, vice president of operations for Atlantic Broadband.

According to company, fiber-optics, which transport light waves over glass strands, have far greater capacity than other technologies, so more data can flow over greater distances more quickly for the fastest internet speeds possible. Fiber-optics are also less prone to interference and interruption.

“Only 25 percent of households in the United States have access to fiber-tothe-home,” said Robert Zeigler, Millheim Borough Council president. “With this initiative, Atlantic Broadband is connecting rural communities to vital services with leading-edge technology that will future-proof the communications infrastructure in this region.”

As construction is completed in each location, Atlantic Broadband will notify the communities of its planned schedule for activation by neighborhood.

Atlantic Broadband, a subsidiary of Cogeco Communications Inc., is the eighth-largest cable operator in the United States, based on the number of television service customers served. The company provides its residential and business customers with Internet, TV and phone services in Pennsylvania and 10 other states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.