It’s official: Surf Internet’s goal of bringing high-speed 2 Gig fiber-optic internet to Porter County has finally come to fruition. On Tuesday, August 15 Surf celebrated this tremendous achievement with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Valparaiso city leaders and community members came out to congratulate the Surf team on a job well done and learn more about how this new service will completely change the lives of Porter County residents.
“Valparaiso is vibrant—it’s such a beautiful place. The city has done so much work over the past 10 years to make Valpo a great place to live and this is just one more step in the right direction to being progressive and ready for the future,” said Scott Franko, Surf Internet’s director of business development and community relations.
Surf has been working on expanding Valparaiso’s fiber footprint for over two years now. It began its venture into Porter County by providing fiber internet to the schools in Valparaiso. Now, Surf Internet is starting to provide fiber internet straight to people’s homes and businesses, allowing them to download, upload, and stream like never before.
Jesse Butz, director of the Porter County Public Library System, has led the charge in finding ways to expand internet access throughout Porter County and is glad Surf has taken on the challenge. He emphasized how vital it is for residents in more rural areas to have access to the same advanced, quality internet that big city residents have access to.
“The internet is the next frontier and has been for some time now, but a digital divide exists. At the library, I see firsthand every day people who need better access, especially since our electronic collection is now our largest branch. It’s important to make sure people can access these things from home and enjoy them,” said Butz.
By making fiber internet accessible to as many communities as possible, Surf strives to eliminate that digital divide so that everyone has an equal opportunity to be successful.
“To us, fiber internet is transformational. It’s the great equalizer: no matter who you are or what you’re trying to do, if everyone has fiber we’ll all have the same bandwidth and speed which increases innovation,” said Franko.
The new service is sure to have an immeasurable impact on Porter County’s economic growth. Surf is already looking forward to seeing how the fiber internet allows local businesses to thrive and encourages more businesses to become a part of the community.
The new service has already had an incredible impact on families. Nevada Terry, Surf’s first Valparaiso customer, had her internet installed as soon as it was available last Tuesday. With young twin daughters streaming things all the time for school and leisure, Terry needed the fastest internet she could get.
“My husband works for AT&T, but they don’t have fiber internet out here, and that’s what my husband knew was going to work best for our family. Xfinity and Verizon just don’t have the speed that we need so we switched over to Surf and so far it’s been great. We love it – our upload and download speed has been incredible,” said Terry.
Ultimately, Surf’s new fiber internet service is leading Porter County toward an even brighter future.
“If you’re looking for something that has faster speed, is more reliable, and has much better customer service, I would recommend the switch to Surf Internet,” said Terry.
The Surf team is grateful to everyone who came out to the ribbon-cutting to show their support. Working with the community has been wonderful so far and the team can’t wait to get more involved and bring fiber internet to even more families.
“I’ve enjoyed working with the mayor and the Valpo Chamber and all these different people in the community,” said Denise Short, Surf Internet’s enterprise account consultant. “They’ve been great at showing us which areas need the most attention and we’re looking forward to serving more areas. This is really exciting.”
To learn more about Surf Internet and its mission to make high-speed fiber internet accessible to all, visit SurfInternet.com.
