Thomasboro residents turn out to hear about new broadband offerings

Rantoul Press
Published: July 31, 2013

THOMASBORO — Volo Broadband hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and public demonstration for its Digital Water fiber broadband services Saturday afternoon at Thomasboro Fire Stations

Volo Broadband officials said it was an opportunity for Central Illinois residents to try the next generation of fiber broadband and ask questions about the services, and how and when they might be available in their community.

Volo CEO Peter Folk said he was happy with Saturday’s turnout.

“The room was basically packed, and we were able to demonstrate speeds over 600 mbps (megabitts per second), which is unheard of,” Folk said.

The CEO said everyone he spoke to at the event was looking for more information on Volo’s services.

“My impression is that basically everyone that came by was going to save money — as some as much as $100 a month — by switching to those services.”

Digital Water Gigabit Fiber is the nation’s first sub-$30/month gigabit fiber service, according to the company.

“Volo sees a future where Internet access across the country is as plentiful, reliable and low-cost as water is today,” Folk said. “We believe that these services are the best deal in broadband and phone service in the nation, regardless of technology.”

Folk said the company has started hooking up homes in Thomasboro to its service and has “quite a few” scheduled for the  next few weeks.

He said the next step is identifying “a few more neighborhoods to roll out this infrastructure in 2013 and the first half of 2014.”

“I expect that we will include at least one other small community in that buildout, in addition to some parts of Champaign, Urbana and Savoy,” Folk said.

“Along with all that is developing a funding model that lets us roll out on a larger scale, faster.”

Fiber broadband is widely seen as the next generation in Internet connectivity, with TV and phone also being possible over the same infrastructure.   Nationally, fiber services are available in many places but are usually substantially more expensive and slower, Folk said.

“We live and work here, and have a vested interest in our community thriving. If you do well, we do well,” Folk said. “I believe that our local Silicon Prairie has not done its share of leading the nation. We are investing in our local communities to change that, in ways that ensuring that Central Illinois continues to be a great place to live and work.”

The release, ribbon cutting, and public unveiling Saturday marked the completion of Volo’s testbed rollout of the service in Thomasboro.

“Digital Water is a major coup for Thomasboro,” Mayor Brad Morris said. “Top-quality, super-fast, and very reliable Internet services for our residents, our businesses, and our community institutions makes our community safer, more competitive and more attractive as a place to live, work and shop.”

“Thomasboro was our testbed — our rollout,” Folk said. “Talks are already underway with neighborhoods in Champaign, Urbana, Savoy and surrounding communities to bring this technology to their residents as well. More communities will follow throughout East Central Illinois, and very likely beyond.”

Volo Broadband was founded in 2001 to provide a high-speed, low-cost, reliable alternative Internet access to the Champaign County region. The locally based company offers premium broadband Internet access, including an always-on, ultra high-speed connection.

 Volo is in the process of becoming a cooperatively owned utility (known currently as Gigabit.coop), to ensure that broadband Internet services are affordable, reliable, and permanently locally controlled. For more information on Volo, Digital Water or Gigabit.coop, contact Peter Folk, CEO, Volo Broadband at peter@volo.net or (217) 721-3893.

People can read more about the services at volo.net/thomasboro, and they can see progress and updates about Volo on the facebook page facebook.com/volobb