TDS Telecom has ambitious plans for Big Sky Country, with plans to deploy fiber to more than 150,000 locations in Montana. To support the buildout, it recently opened two new warehouses in the state and hopes to hire two dozen new employees there. It also hopes to cover nearly 40,000 new locations in Wisconsin and thousands of others.
Billings became the first city in Montana to get fiber from TDS, and the carrier turned on service there last August after construction began in September 2021. It serves more than 1,300 addresses there and says it eventually plans to cover more than 50,000 people citywide.
The operator also hopes to roll out fiber in the cities of Butte, Helena, Missoula and Great Falls. It appears that activity will be concentrated in Helena and Missoula, which will receive more than 27,000 and 35,000 passes, respectively. These cities are also home to newly opened TDS Telecom warehouses.
In a press release last week, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte said TDS' expansion will benefit from a $160 million investment by the company. Peterson confirmed that construction there is being privately funded.
To help support the construction, TDS already employs 45 people in the state and hopes to add 25 more. It is looking for fiber optic fusion splicers, outside planning engineers, construction technicians, field service technicians and field marketing leaders, according to its website.
The carrier also has contracts with TAK West Shore in Wisconsin and CEC Facilities Group in Texas to help with network construction.
Its plans in Montana come as the operator looks to cover 1.2 million locations in its footprint with fiber by 2026. tDS added 133,000 person-times in 2022 to reach 582,000 person-times by the end of the year. It plans to build another 175,000 passes this year. It's unclear how many of those will be in Montana.
In terms of big-name competition in the state, TDS Telecom appears to be going up against Charter Communications and Lumen Technologies primarily. Local competitors include Montana Internet, which offers fiber primarily in Helena and Boulder, and Treasure State Internet and Telegraph.
Charter primarily serves Montana through its cable offerings, but the FCC's broadband map shows it has deployed fiber in parts of Billings, Bozeman, Missoula and Whitefish as of June 2022. Last December, Charter also received $110 million in grants from the state of Montana for 17 fiber-optic projects. These grants cover work in Cascade, Silver Bow and Missoula counties, as well as Lewis and Clark counties, which are home to the cities where TDS plans to build.
Montana isn't the only target for TDS Telecom. Peterson said it is "building fiber networks for about 100 communities" in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Idaho, Washington and New Mexico. The carrier also issued a press release announcing fiber work in Tennessee, Indiana and Maine through 2023.
Specifically, in Wisconsin, the carrier said it plans to cover 12,000 addresses in Onalaska and Sparta; 8,000 locations in Fitchburg; 5,000 in Menomonie; 4,000 in Altoona; 3,800 in Twin Lakes; 3,800 in Whitewater; and 3,000 in Bangor, Rockland and West Salem.
It also handles 300 locations in Hillsboro, Indiana, and plans to reach 2,500 locations in Brewsterton, Tennessee. TDS Telecom's expansion plans in Maine - designed to reach more than 30 communities - are also underway, with a project under construction to bring fiber to 1,800 homes in the town of Warren and plans to begin work soon in the towns of Ripley's Harmony, Thoreau and Emden. In January, the carrier also received a grant in Maine that will help it cover all of Swan Island, where work is set to begin later this year.
