United Fiber, a subsidiary of United Electric Cooperative, has reached an important milestone.

The company announced this week that it has delivered service to its 25,000th subscriber.

United Electric began this journey when they applied for a grant-loan combination through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2010. This led to the construction of 1,500 miles of fiber lines, connecting homes and businesses to the next generation of fiber infrastructure. To date, utilizing this additional investment along with the Connect American Fund, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, and private investment, United has grown to over 3,000 miles of fiber throughout northwest Missouri.
United Fiber serves more than 40 communities, 110 churches, 140 health care facilities, and 35 educational facilities with broadband internet. Approximately 87 percent of United Electric’s membership have access to high-speed internet. The goal is to ensure that all United Electric members have access to high-speed internet.
“The growth we have experienced and reaching the 25,000-subscriber mark is a testimony to the importance of affordable and reliable broadband service. Providing our membership and region with state-of-the-art fiber connectivity is critical to ensuring Northwest Missouri can flourish in education, employment, health care, and overall quality of life opportunities,” commented Chief Operations Officer Darren Farnan.

Electric cooperatives were formed to bring much-needed electricity to rural areas in the 1930s and 1940s, and United is fulfilling that same mission today with broadband, according to a news release.
“What separates United Fiber from other internet providers is our local customer service. That has been a critical piece to the success of United Fiber. United Electric Cooperative has been in the local communities for over 80 years, and we plan to continue serving the local communities for another 80 years,” CEO Jim Bagley said.

“United’s mission statement is ‘Enhancing the rural way of life through United,’” said Bagley. “We live out this mission daily for our members and customers.”

United Fiber has no plans to slow in its subscriber growth, with 50,000 subscribers being a realistic goal for the company.