TDS completes Monroe County, Tennessee grant fiber project

More than 3K locations can now access all-fiber internet connections as part of public-private partnership

TDS Telecommunications LLC (TDS®) announced the completion of its Monroe County, Tennessee broadband grant project, upgrading services to more than 3,000 locations with new fiber-optic connections.

“Fiber is the gold standard for broadband because it delivers speed, reliability and room to grow,” said Drew Petersen, senior vice president of Corporate Affairs for TDS. “We’re incredibly proud of this public-private partnership and appreciate the support that helped make this upgrade project possible.”

The network upgrades were supported in part by a grant awarded by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development using federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to expand access to high-speed broadband in unserved and underserved areas. TDS contributed the remaining project costs to bring state-of-the-art infrastructure to the region.

The upgrade kicked off last year, expanding fiber access across all of TDS’ Monroe County footprint, including Tellico Plains, Coker Creek, Vonore, and Ball Play. Up to 8 Gig speeds are available to most addresses.

TDS fiber internet is symmetrical, meaning upload and download speeds are identical. Internet options start at 300 Mbps, with multi-gig speeds available up to 8 Gig for qualifying addresses. Business customers can also choose a 10 Gig dedicated connection with a Service Level Agreement. TDS continues to offer a low-cost internet option to qualifying customers called TDS Connect.

Residents and businesses interested in learning what speeds are now available at their location can visit TDS.com or call 1-844-TDS-FIBER.