By Matt de Simone
LUMOS: a fiber provider
There would not have been a broadband expansion in Botetourt if not for the county’s partnerships with providers. About 11,000 Botetourt County addresses receive their broadband service through LUMOS, which has served the area for the past 15 years.
However, the company’s history here in Botetourt goes well before 2006, when the company became “LUMOS.”
“We’ve been serving Botetourt County since the late 1800s,” LUMOS Senior Vice President and General Manager Diego Anderson explained in a recent phone interview. “We were the original phone company that evolved into a broadband company. We know many of the community leaders. Many of our employees live in the Botetourt community. We’re very familiar with the landscape and have a good relationship with the Botetourt County Broadband Commission.”
LUMOS is a part of SEGRA, one of the largest independent fiber bandwidth companies in the United States that span more than 30,000 “fiber miles” throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast
“Obviously, there a great demand for fiber broadband, and the pandemic exposed that with a lot of people needing that utility while working from home or having school from home,” Anderson continued. “The biggest challenge was meeting the demand for where we were going to build and provide fiber.”
Some of the rural areas in Botetourt can prove challenging while “building out” broadband to those sections of the community. LUMOS studied the areas where there was the most demand and began their portion of the project in those areas. Anderson mentioned that throughout the expansion, they found more places for additional connections.
LUMOS’ existing infrastructure stretches from Botetourt County’s southernmost points in Cloverdale, up through Daleville and Troutville, and reaching up to Eagle Rock. Last year, LUMOS received federal funding through the Alternative Connect American Cost Model (ACAM). These funds gave LUMOS the option to offer people and businesses in and around Narrow Passage Road in Eagle Rock and Brugh’s Mill Road in Fincastle upgrades. Customers will be able to choose speeds at a minimum of 100Mbps download or the option of fiber-optic downloads, which provides homes to download up to 1Gig downloads and businesses with 10Gig.
LUMOS has various tiers of internet speeds for customers. The company provides the flexibility for customers deciding on their solution for proper Internet speed. They offer other packages that include WiFi, streaming, and security products to fit their customers’ specific needs.
“The tiers LUMOS offers is important because most providers only give their customers fast download speeds, not upload,” Lumos Director of Marketing Karen Hoch added. “That upload speed is the true test of internet reliability—especially in the ways we depend on it today for video calls and remote learning.”
LUMOS includes all download and upload speeds in their fiber services because they understand their customers recognize the difference.
“We are so excited to be expanding even more into Botetourt County,” Hoch continued. “The team in Botetourt published an interactive map for residents. You’ll see in the slides a healthy presence of LUMOS fiber.”
LUMOS will send out notices to residents in their construction path. Residents who are interested in signing up for fiber can check their availability on the website at www.lumosnetworks.com. Anderson and Koch wanted to be sure to add that if LUMOS’ fiber expansion is not yet in a specific area, residents can also leave a note on the website to let them know of points of interest.
For more about Botetourt’s ongoing broadband expansion, visit www.bocobroadband.info for more information and to access their interactive map updating the current status of the project.
