Renville County

RS Fiber Cooperative Enters the Growth Phase

August 29, 2018 By Dave Dicke •

For Immediate Release 08/30/2018

Gaylord, MN – As the high-speed broadband project enters its third year, RS Fiber Cooperative (RS Fiber) customer growth has increased by 62% over the past year.

Phase One construction has been completed with the final four member communities being connected to the Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) Gigabit network in the first quarter of 2018. The company is now in the customer acquisition stage for all ten Fiber to the Home communities. To date, RS Fiber serves more than 30% of the homes and businesses in the ten communities and that number continues to grow at a steady rate each month.

The customer acquisition phase moves RS Fiber Cooperative beyond the high risk of a start-up company in construction mode. This also means that the company financing will need to shift to a model that will support continued growth to not only to a positive cash flow but also to profitability as planned by 2021.

At a recent presentation to the Joint Powers Board, Shannon Sweeny of David Drown Associates, Inc., stated that the subordinated debt payments will not be made for the next two years and that the cities will need to make the GO bond payments. The subscriber growth on the network will determine when RS Fiber will be able to take back the payments from the cities. That determination will be looked at annually.

Kevin Lauwagie, the RS Fiber Board Chair, stated that “RS Fiber was founded due to the lack of interest by existing companies to serve the towns and rural townships in our area. Now that the first phase is complete and more than 2,000 residents have already benefited by the service, we know we’ve done the right thing and look forward to continuing with expansion of the service across our region”.

With the project now in its third year, RS Fiber continues its steady growth trend. The company now serves more than 2,000 homes and businesses and has increased revenue by 65% over the past 12 months.

RS Fiber Air, the fixed wireless solution for the 17 townships served in phase 1, continues to expand wireless broadband coverage to new areas of rural Renville and Sibley counties. Five additional towers have been added in the project area in 2018. These towers will continue to expand the reach of broadband services throughout the area.

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About us: RS Fiber Cooperative is a community driven effort to deliver a high-speed fiber-optic connection to Sibley County and portions of Renville, Nicollet, and McLeod Counties. The project has brought fiber-optic Internet, Video, and Phone services to ten cities and broadband fixed wireless to seventeen townships. The RS Fiber mission is: “To provide each and every customer with an exceptional service experience that you can only expect to receive from a local business, while providing you with access to the benefits of the most advanced fiber optic network in the US”.

For additional information, or to schedule an interview, please contact David Dicke at david.dicke@rsfiber.coop or call 507-474-5884.

RS Fiber Announces Faster Wireless Broadband Speeds and Expanded Coverage

August 16, 2017 By Dave Dicke •

Winthrop, MN – RS Fiber has announced it will be offering a second level of broadband speed and expanding coverage area of its wireless broadband service, RS Air.

Company officials say a download speed of 50 Mbps will be available to RS Air customers. This is an enhanced option from the 25 Mbps currently offered for the rural broadband service. The 50 Mbps speed is currently available to 90% of the wireless broadband service area.

Hiawatha Broadband Communications (HBC), the operator for the RS Fiber Network, has served high speed broadband wireless service of 50 Mbps in its own HBC markets for the past year. Following a period of testing in the RS Fiber network, the service became available in August.

HBC President & CEO, Dan Pecarina, states that this speed increase will be of great value customers.

“Our mission at RS Fiber is to bring the best service possible to our customers whether that is Gigabit service from the fiber optic network in town or broadband wireless to the most rural areas of the townships we serve. With more households using more devices, this speed increase option will make it easier for the kids to do their homework at night and for mom and dad to get their online work done too.”

The coverage area of RS Air will also increase with the addition of several new towers. Toby Brummer, RS Fiber General Manager, said that the availability of RS Air service depends on the signal levels received from the tower to the home or business. He said anyone interested in RS Air wireless broadband service should call (800) 628-1754 to schedule a site check to see if RS Air service is available at their location.

RS Fiber Cooperative Celebrates Two Year Anniversary

June 23, 2017 By Dave Dicke •

Winthrop, MN – RS Fiber Cooperative will celebrate its second anniversary next month.

Nearly a decade’s worth of planning became reality on July 8, 2015 when the first few feet of fiber-optic cable was plowed into the ground giving birth to a state-of-the-art communications network. The RS Fiber network now consists of nearly 200 miles of backbone fiber throughout Renville and Sibley counties connecting six member communities.

The all fiber-optic, active Ethernet Gigabit network is being constructed by Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc. (HBC) based in Winona, MN. HBC CEO Dan Pecarina said the project’s success is due in part to the enthusiasm for the venture.

“There were a few naysayers at the beginning who said it would be impossible to build this project, but there was also large group of people who really championed the cause and believed that it could happen. The RS Fiber Cooperative Board of Directors should be very proud of what they have achieved.”

RS Fiber General Manager Toby Brummer said the final stage of Phase One construction is underway.

“This summer we will be finishing the Phase One construction. By the end of the year we will be able to offer services to the communities of Brownton, Buffalo Lake, Fairfax, and Stewart.”

Currently six towns and more than 2,500 homes and businesses have access to Gigabit services from RS Fiber. A total of 4,500 homes and businesses will have Gigabit broadband access once the remaining four communities are connected this fall.

Rural areas are receiving broadband service through RS Fiber Air which delivers high-speed broadband to more than 2,000 customers over a network of towers throughout Renville and Sibley counties.

RS Fiber has local offices in Winthrop and Gaylord.

Construction to connect final four cities to RS Fiber Network to begin next month

May 18, 2017 By Dave Dicke •

Winthrop, MN – RS Fiber Cooperative (RS Fiber) begin the final stage of its state-of-the-art fiber-optic network next month.

Plans to begin construction to link the cities of Brownton, Buffalo Lake, Fairfax, and Stewart to the RS Fiber network is scheduled to start by the end of June. Those cities will join six others (Gaylord, Gibbon, Green Isle, Lafayette, New Auburn, and Winthrop) who have been connected to the network since the project began in June 2015.

To date, RS Fiber is serving more than 1,100 customers. Customers connected directly to the fiber network are receiving TV, telephone, and Internet services with speeds up to 1 Gbps. Some customers receive services through RS Air which delivers wireless broadband Internet to homes and farms in more than 17 townships over a network of 13 towers. RS Fiber general manager Toby Brummer is expecting to have over 2,000 customers connected to the network and enjoying super-fast gigabit speeds by the end of the year.

“As construction of the network continues, we expect our customer numbers to continue to grow,” said Brummer. “Once we have the final four towns connected to the network, construction can begin on Phase Two of the project which will involve bringing gigabit fiber service to the township members of the RS Fiber Cooperative.”

This new growth for RS Fiber will generate more jobs for the local economy. To date, the project has created ten new local jobs with offices in Winthrop and Gaylord. More jobs are expected to be added throughout the coming year as the network expands.

About us: RS Fiber Cooperative is a community driven effort to deliver a high-speed fiber-optic connection to Sibley County and portions of Renville, Nicollet, and McLeod Counties. The project will bring fiber-optic Internet, Video, and Phone services to ten cities and seventeen townships. The RS Fiber mission is: “To provide each and every customer with an exceptional service experience that you can only expect to receive from a local business, while providing you with access to the benefits of the most advanced fiber optic network in the US”.

RS Fiber to Host Community Events in New Auburn and Green Isle

October 4, 2016 By Dave Dicke •

For Immediate Release (10/4/2016)

Gaylord, MN – RS Fiber will be hosting a pair of community events next week in the communities of New Auburn and Green Isle to give residents the opportunity to learn more about RS Fiber services.

The event in New Auburn will be held Tuesday, October 11 at the Fire Hall from 5:30 pm until 8:30 pm. Local residents are invited to stop in for a free catered dinner and to learn more about RS Fiber.

The Green Isle event will be held Wednesday, October 12 at the Green Isle Community School from 5:30 pm until 8:30 pm. A free dinner will be catered by the Green Isle Lions Club.

Door prizes will be drawn for at each event.

RS Fiber General Manager Toby Brummer said RS Fiber team members will be in attendance to answer any questions and assist individuals with signing up for Internet, Video, and Phone. “We are looking forward to meeting with everyone and having an opportunity to explain all of the RS Fiber services.”

Construction crews continue to press forward with Phase 1 construction. In addition to New Auburn and Green Isle, RS Fiber hopes to be offering services to the towns of Gibbon and Lafayette by the end of the year.

About us: RS Fiber Cooperative is a community driven effort to deliver a high-speed fiber-optic connection to Sibley County and portions of Renville, Nicollet, and McLeod Counties. The project will bring fiber-optic Internet, Video, and Phone services to ten cities and seventeen townships. The RS Fiber mission is: “To provide each and every customer with an exceptional service experience that you can only expect to receive from a local business, while providing you with access to the benefits of the most advanced fiber optic network in the US”.

For additional information, or to schedule an interview, please contact David Dicke at david.dicke@rsfiber.coop or call 507-474-5884.

PBS to Feature RS Fiber Cooperative

June 20, 2016 By Dave Dicke •

Winthrop, MN – A television crew from the PBS program Newshour/Weekend was in Winthrop and Gaylord this week gathering interviews for what will become a segment on broadband in rural America and feature RS Fiber.

PBS spent Monday visiting with members of the RS Fiber Board of Directors along with business and residential customers to learn how RS Fiber’s high-speed fiber-optic network is making a difference in their businesses and personal lives.

When contacting RS Fiber, segment producer Zachary Green said he was doing a story on the lack of high-speed internet in rural communities when he came across the work that is being done in Renville and Sibley counties and the RS Fiber Cooperative. He said he wanted to learn more about the cooperative model being used to fund the project and the affect high-speed broadband access is having on businesses and the overall quality of life of area residents.

The segment is scheduled to air as part of the July 3 Newshour/Weekend program and can be seen on TPT Life, RS Fiber channel 203.

About us: RS Fiber Cooperative is a community driven effort to deliver a high-speed fiber-optic connection to Sibley County and portions of Renville, Nicollet, and McLeod Counties. The project is bringing fiber-optic Internet, Video, and Phone services to ten cities and seventeen townships. The RS Fiber mission is: “To provide each and every customer with an exceptional service experience that you can only expect to receive from a local business, while providing you with access to the benefits of the most advanced fiber optic network in the US”.

For additional information, please contact David Dicke at david.dicke@rsfiber.coop or call 507-474-5884.

Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc. Names Brummer as RS Fiber Cooperative General Manager

May 22, 2015 By Dave Dicke •

Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc., (HBC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Toby Brummer as Renville-Sibley Fiber Cooperative (RS Fiber) General Manager.

RS Fiber Cooperative General Manager Toby Brummer

HBC CEO Dan Pecarina said, “Toby has all the qualities of the ideal General Manager. He has proven management and communications experience, has operated his own network construction company, and has performed nearly every job function in this industry. We are very fortunate to have Toby leading our team.”

“I am very excited to be a part of such a grassroots project that was really brought to the forefront by Renville and Sibley County residents who wanted to provide the best broadband opportunities possible for their friends and neighbors,” said Brummer. “They realize that the key to economic development, improvement of quality of life, and bringing new families to the area is being connected.”

RS Fiber Cooperative and HBC are working together to bring a new fiber network to Sibley County and portions of Renville, Nicollet, and McLeod Counties. The project will bring fiber-optic Internet, Video, and Phone services to ten cities and seventeen townships. Construction will be completed in two phases over the next five to six years with Phase One beginning the first week of June. The initial network construction phase is projected to cost $15 million.

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