Fiber optic internet from NextLink coming to rural northern Gage County

BEATRICE - Residents of north central Gage County in southeast Nebraska will soon have fiber optic internet.

The Hudson Oaks, TX. based company of NextLink Internet will soon be on the ground, providing what they believe to be some of the fastest and most reliable service to those in rural Gage County. Oliver Borchers-Williams is an AmeriCorps lead Nebraska Fellow serving southeast Nebraska. He talked about the benefits to the project.

“This will feed nearly 1,000 homes with fiber,” Borchers-Williams said. “This is fast, reliable, 2-gig fiber which is truly next generation technology that’ll be coming to these rural residents. NextLink also will be offering plans in Gage County around $49-$99, so it’s truly a bang for your buck.”

Barring anything unforeseen, NextLink estimates the project is a two-year build, but it could be on the ground within the next few months. Borchers-Williams says results show NextLink to be a better option for those in Gage County.

“It hit more homes than their competitors, it offered comparable speeds at more affordable rates and it offered better top-end speed than other competitors who submitted applications,” Borchers-Williams said.

A unique piece to NextLink’s services are that it’s strictly rural. Therefore, one of the main points at which NextLink hopes to provide quality service is to farmers and those in the ag field.

“Things are gettin incredibly advanced in that field,” Borchers-Williams said. “With greater advancements becomes a much higher need for bandwidth so hooking these farms up with fiber is definitely a step in the right direction towards that.”

Borchers-Williams says NextLink will also provide jobs to Gage County as they will have an office front in Beatrice.