Representatives of Surf Internet, the city of Warsaw and Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce staff and ambassadors pose for a photo Tuesday. Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union.

By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union

WARSAW — Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce held a groundbreaking for Surf Internet Tuesday, Sept. 10.

Scott Franko, director of business development with Surf Internet, said the start of construction to bring fiber internet services through Surf Internet will begin around Sept. 26. Internet Surf will be concentrating on Warsaw and the immediate area.

Franko said they’ve been talking about bringing its services to Warsaw for about a year as the internet provider has started expanding. In the past year, Surf Internet has built around areas like Larwill, North Webster and South Whitley, among others.

Sometimes you have to look at where the network is and it’s easier to build out where you have a network first, he said. Surf Internet wants to make sure it’s in alignment with the need and competition to make sure it works well.

Construction for services is expected to take about a year. Franko said even after that, “we’re never done.” The internet provider will look for other areas they could edge out or expand to.

The biggest difference between fiber internet and other sorts of broadband internet is fiber gives people “the symmetrical ability, meaning your upload and download are equal in speeds. It’s also the only one that’s ready for the future, so that when the world’s ready to go to 5G, 105, 25G, once the infrastructure is here, it’s upgradeable automatically. You don’t have to replace the wires and all that kind of stuff. You’re positioned for the future,” he said.

“We tell communities that you’re future-proofing your community when you bring fiber into your community and make that available to your residents.”

Also, people aren’t sharing bandwith with neighbors and there is consistent speed with internet service, no matter how many devices the customer has.

Franko said for Surf Internet, there’s no hook-up fees and there’s a price lock-in for life.

“We try to make it very simple,” he said.

If people are interested in hooking up to Surf Internet, Franko said the easiest way to do that is to go to surfinternet.com. People can put in their addresses in on the website and receive updates of availability for the service. Residents will also receive newsletters and notification of when the service is available in their area.