Cityside Networks, LLC, dba Cityside Fiber, an Irvine, CA-based fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) developer and internet service provider, has launched residential services in its first neighborhoods in Tustin and Dana Point in Orange County, CA. The company says its FTTP network currently passes about 4,000 homes out of roughly 22,000 in Tustin, and approximately 500 out of about 16,000 homes in Dana Point.
Cityside Fiber plans to expand its FTTP network throughout Orange County in 2024. It says construction will begin in Lake Forest and North Tustin over the coming weeks, with customer activations in those markets slated for mid-2024.
The company says it is committed to providing high-speed internet connectivity to homes and businesses throughout the region. Cityside Fiber co-founder and CEO Rod Hanson tells Inside Towers that many parts of Orange County lack high-speed connectivity. Internet access is only available from cable company Cox Communications, or AT&T’s copper-based digital subscriber line (DSL) service.
Orange County, situated south of Los Angeles along the Pacific coast, is a dense suburban market of 34 cities with over three million people, who Hanson says are affluent and willing to pay for gigabit internet access. He estimates that between Anaheim and San Clemente, the company’s target area, there are about half a million homes and more than a million people, making this area very attractive for FTTP deployments.
Hanson shared with Inside Towers that the cost per home-passed tends to be higher in California than in most markets and above the “magic” $1,000/H-P target. Without citing specific numbers, he says the company is keeping its capital expenditures in line with financial returns and is achieving its budgeted targets.
Hanson says one of the surprisingly big installation expense items in running fiber in areas of Orange County is the cost to restore roads after the cable is buried, adding that each city has its own requirements.
Unlike traditional cable and DSL, Cityside Fiber operates a 100 percent fiber-optic network. Hanson says Cityside Fiber differentiates itself by delivering exceptional customer service, including 24/7 support, with no long-term contracts and straightforward billing with no hidden fees. The company website shows monthly charges for flat rate symmetrical service packages are: 1 Gbps for $80, 2 Gbps for $90 and 5 Gbps for $295.
Hanson adds that Cityside Fiber’s FTTP networks connect to a long-haul protected dark fiber ring that stretches from the company’s data center in Anaheim, along the I-5 corridor to point-of-presence locations in Dana Point, then back up along the Pacific Coast Highway to its second data center in Irvine. Both data centers are connected together and also tie into the highly-interconnected One Wilshire data center site in Los Angeles.
“With our launch of service in Tustin and Dana Point, we are thrilled to be now bringing a state-of-the-art network, excellent speeds, reliable connectivity, and outstanding customer service to those communities,” Jonathan Restivo, Cityside Fiber co-founder and Chief Development Officer, said in a statement.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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