A fiber-optic broadband service provider is investing $40 million in the Charleston suburbs to establish its first South Carolina foothold.
Jacksonville, Fla.-based IQ Fiber plans to enter the Charleston market this year offering whole-home high-speed internet service for customers in West Ashley and Mount Pleasant.
The company has already begun laying groundwork on utility rights-of-way for its 10-gig capable fiber-optic network, CEO Ted Schremp said. The company is making a $40 million investment in the area and plans to open a local office with 20 to 25 employees.
Schremp, who spent more than 30 years working for legacy telecommunications companies, founded IQ Fiber in 2021 as a more modern way to deliver high-speed broadband service through thin fiber-optic cables. The company has seen rapid growth, now serving more than 100,000 customers in Jacksonville and in counties throughout northern Florida, he said.
“Fiber was first deployed in the late 1970s. Nearly 50 years later, the technology and the cost of the technology has evolved to such a point that we can deliver a connection right into your living room,” Schremp said.
Charleston was chosen for expansion because of its above-average population growth, Schremp said, adding that the company is open to expanding its service area beyond Mount Pleasant and West Ashley. The largest hurdles are the upfront infrastructure costs for laying cables on utility rights-of-way.
IQ Fiber CEO Ted Schremp.
“It gets interesting in historic sections, but we’re playing the long game in Charleston,” Schremp said.
Charleston Mayor William Cogswell said in a statement IQ Fiber “brings much-needed competition to our broadband landscape.”
The company will let residents know via mailers and a door tag when its high-speed broadband service will be available. Other IQ Fiber expansions are underway in Savannah and in Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay region.
According to the Fiber Broadband Association, fiber-to-the-home customers in the U.S. grew 13 percent in 2023 to 78 million residences.
Across the country, fiber-optic makers and providers are expanding. Last year, AFL Telecommunications, which manufactures fiber-optic ground wire in Spartanburg County, announced plans to invest $156 million to grow its Upstate operations and add new equipment, which will create an expected 153 jobs.
Schremp said customer pricing in Charleston will match the company’s existing rate structure, ranging from $65 a month to $125 per month.
