It’s been fun to track the progress from Paul Bunyan…

Long Wait Over: 400+ More Locations in Rural Park Rapids Gain Access to Broadband
Cooperative Expansion Project that started in 2012 completed

(Bemidji, MN) (December 21, 2015) – The long wait for access to high speed Internet and cable television services has finally come to an end for hundreds of more locations in rural Park Rapids. Paul Bunyan Communications announced today that expansion of its all-fiber optic network is complete in the last region of rural Park Rapids constructed in 2015 bringing access to broadband and cable TV services to over 400 more locations. The area impacted is east of Park Rapids that includes the following lakes: Sunday, Little Stony, 4th Crow Wing, Island, 3rd Crow Wing, 2nd Crow Wing, Palmer, and most of 1st Crow Wing
The cooperative started expansion of its all fiber optic network into rural Park Rapids in 2012 and Paul Bunyan Communications now offers all of its services to over 3,500 locations in the region which includes Gigabit Broadband Internet, Paul Bunyan Television, and voice services. While this marks the completion of the original rural Park Rapids fiber project, the cooperative continues to look for additional future opportunities to deliver its advanced gigabit Internet and other services in and around the Park Rapids area.

“Access to broadband Internet services enhances life in so many different ways. It opens up e-commerce opportunities, educational, cultural, and recreational resources. It is especially important in rural areas where it can help overcome distance and financial barriers,” said Gary Johnson, CEO/GM of Paul Bunyan Communications, “We’ve seen the difference it can make first hand throughout our service territory and we are proud to bring Broadband access to thousands of locations in the Park Rapids area the past three years.”

“Ironically these new areas of our cooperative have gone from having no Broadband access to having access to the fastest Internet speeds available today as part of the GigaZone. There are very few parts of the country like the Park Rapids area where Gigabit Internet services are available. It’s pretty amazing that areas like Little Stony and Sunday Lake have Gigabit Internet access before New York City or Washington D.C.,” added Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

“While this is the end of our major expansion project in the rural Park Rapids area, our efforts to bring Broadband to the region that started back in 1999 will continue. Unfortunately there are still many areas adjacent to where our cooperative serves that do not have quality Broadband access from their current providers. It’s too bad, all of our service areas have had access to Broadband since 2004, yet almost 12 years later there are still a lot of rural areas and even some urban areas being neglected by the large regional service providers without access to even the most basic of high speed Internet services. We will continue to do what we can to bring Broadband access to more areas in 2016 and beyond,” added Bissonette.

GigaZone service options include unprecedented Broadband Internet speeds of up to 1000 Mbps – a Gigabit. Members who subscribe to GigaZone Broadband can also add PBTV Fusion and/or low cost unlimited local and long distance GigaZone voice service. All non-GigaZone service options remain available to cooperative members as well.

Most current wireless routers cannot support blazing GigaZone Internet speeds. To help, the cooperative is offering GigaZone Integrated Wi-Fi that uses the latest in advanced Wi-Fi technologies to maximize the in-home wireless experience. This service is free to all new GigaZone customers for the first six months, with a minimal charge thereafter.

Paul Bunyan Communications has the region’s largest and fastest all fiber optic network with over 5,000 square miles throughout most of Beltrami County and portions of Cass, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, and St. Louis Counties. The Cooperative provides Broadband High Speed Internet Services including the GigaZone, digital and high definition television services, Smart Home services, digital voice services, and more.
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