Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, aka Shentel, now is offering a new fiber-optic network in Lynchburg to residential and business customers. The technology, branded Glo Fiber, reaches more than 42,000 households in the city.

Launched in 2019, Glo Fiber delivers next-generation fiber-to-the-home gigabit broadband internet access, livestreaming TV and digital home phone service to Harrisonburg, Staunton, Front Royal, Winchester, Salem and Roanoke, according to Shentel. Chris Kyle, vice president of industry and regulatory affairs at Shentel, said the new technology is the gold standard in Lynchburg.

“This is choice, this is competition and consumers are going to benefit from this,” he said. “So with our technology, this is a big bet that we’re making but we’re confident in that because we’ve got a great background and a solid history of doing this.”

The 120-year-old company based out of Edinburg has been building fiber in Lynchburg for a while but is new to offering services to residential markets.

“With this technology, it’s all about internet, and the pandemic, if it did nothing else, really put a bright spotlight on broadband,” Kyle said. “The fiber to the home is a fiber connection [in which] we’ll deliver the highest speeds that are available and we can upgrade those speeds without tearing up the street again. It’s upgradable and is the best technology out there.”