Conexon debuts '100 Club' program to honor electric cooperatives that complete on-system high-speed fiber network and ensure reliable, affordable broadband for members

KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rural fiber-optic network solutions leader Conexon has introduced a new recognition program for electric cooperatives that have reached the significant milestone of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network completion within their service territories.

The Conexon 100 Club honors electric co-ops around the country that have successfully undertaken the important work to ensure 100 percent of their members have access to affordable, reliable broadband service.

The program was created to showcase the work co-ops around the nation have accomplished to bridge the digital divide and deliver fiber to the home across even the most rural, hardest-to-reach areas of their service territories. The efforts and investment of the co-ops mean the homes and businesses they serve can now realize the opportunities to thrive with the community-transforming power of high-speed internet.

A total of 25 Conexon partner electric cooperatives across 10 states have achieved Conexon 100 Club status as of the end of Q1 2024 and are being inducted this month as the program's inaugural honorees. Their respective FTTH project completions may date back as far as 2017.

"Since we began our work, we have adhered to one overarching principle: Every member of an electric co-op should be afforded access to world-class fiber-optic service. Some electric co-ops serve members over thousands of miles of electric distribution lines, so to build fiber across those thousands of miles can take years of construction," said Conexon co-CEO Jonathan Chambers. "We want to honor those co-ops who began and completed that long journey. These are significant milestones, ones that have gone largely unnoticed by the broadband industry. We simply want to celebrate these milestones in some small way by recognizing the hard work and perseverance of so many electric co-op boards, management, and personnel."

Conexon's next "class" of inductees, expected to number nearly 20 more co-ops, will be recognized, along with today's inaugural class, in November 2024 as part of Co-ops Connect, the company's annual fiber broadband workshop. These nominees will represent FTTH projects that will finish during Q2-Q4 2024. Going forward, new honorees achieving on-system project completion and ensuring broadband access for all members will be inducted yearly at Co-ops Connect.

"Improving the lives and communities of all members they serve – regardless of where those members live – is at the heart of what our electric cooperative partners do, and why we choose to recognize this achievement of 100 percent broadband access," said Randy Klindt, Conexon Founding Partner and co-CEO. "At Conexon, we believe co-op involvement is the only way to ensure rural communities have access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet, and we are proud today to recognize our partners who have gotten that job done for the homes and businesses within their service territories."

To view the 2024 Conexon 100 Club inductees, please visit conexon.us/conexon-100-club

About Conexon
Conexon is an industry-leading broadband network design, construction and operations firm working with electric cooperatives, communities and other entities to deploy fiber to the home across rural America. Since its inception a decade ago, Conexon has collaborated with electric cooperatives across 80 markets to launch and deploy fiber-to-the-home networks in their territories, with more than 20 projects now reaching 100 percent of members. The company's internet service provider, Connect, today delivers multi-gigabit-speed internet across many of those markets. Through Conexon's work with its partners, nearly 3 million rural Americans now have access to fiber to the home, with more than 1.1 million connected. The company has designed more than 200,000 miles of fiber and builds more than 50,000 miles annually. With more than $2 billion in federal, state, and local grants and subsidies for FTTH projects, Conexon and its partners have collectively secured more federal broadband funding for fiber construction than any other group in the country.

Cindy Parks
913-526-6912
[email protected]

SOURCE Conexon