Founded in 2019 and based in Wright City, MO, Gateway Fiber provides high-speed internet access to communities across the state. Compelled by the company’s simple and straightforward mission to build connected communities, advance economic development and bridge the digital divide, both small business and residential customers have come to rely on the company’s growing fiber optic network for high-speed symmetrical connectivity.
Gateway Fiber stands out with a streamlined offering that is free of contracts, hidden fees or data caps. This has helped the company stand out in the noisy traditional internet marketplace, where services are often commoditized, and promotions riddled with fine print.
For the company, leveraging a deep understanding of customer needs to establish a competitive advantage with uncomplicated small business and Fiber to the Home (FTTH) solutions was easy in comparison with engineering, constructing and deploying a highly resilient fiber network to deliver those solutions.
Building a Robust Last Mile
The last mile is the final stretch of fiber network connecting a provider’s network infrastructure to the end user customer’s business or home. It is the most capital-intensive segment of fiber network construction, requiring a network’s core to extend in multiple directions, similar to that of a tree’s root system, to reach its final destination.
In addition to route planning, a fiber provider must also engineer its network to ensure bandwidth capacity can be carried without compromise from the internet gateway, through the middle mile and along the last mile, to the end user customer.
In setting out to quickly deploy internet services across the region, Gateway Fiber looked to establish connections with middle mile networks that could offer both breadth of coverage and the capacity to scale.
Gateway Fiber found both a partner and a solution in Everstream. As a partner, Everstream shared Gateway Fiber’s forthright mindset and commitment to building highly resilient fiber networks. And for the solution, Gateway Fiber discovered the capabilities of dark fiber.
By leasing dark fiber from Everstream, Gateway Fiber gained access to unlimited bandwidth in the middle mile. That bandwidth could be further engineered and constructed with geographic diversity for the ultimate in reliability. This build-to-suit solution enabled Gateway Fiber to establish robust connectivity throughout the region with the scalability necessary to support future growth.
“Since partnering with Everstream, flexibility and nimbleness have been at the forefront,” explains Chris Calbreath, Gateway Fiber Chief Technology Officer, adding, “Everstream has been incredibly dependable. There’s never been a moment when they didn’t deliver.”
Scale in Every Way
Gateway Fiber has continued to expand its last mile reach. Its aggressive, multi-year growth plans keep multiple projects at play at a given time, in support of the company’s goal of continuing to enter new markets.
And when there has been overlap in expansion initiatives, Gateway Fiber and Everstream have undertaken joint trenching builds, sharing in dual-purpose fiber construction projects.
“When our new markets team comes to us wanting to build – we know we have Everstream to build with us,” describes Calbreath, adding, “I can attribute this to the willingness of Everstream and their team. When we need to light up dark fiber, it happens.”
Gateway Fiber and Everstream share a commitment to speed. When Gateway Fiber recently evaluated an opportunity to build further diversity and resilience, network, they again turned to Everstream for dark fiber. The project, which closed the metro network ring connecting Wentzville, Missouri to downtown St. Louis, Missouri, and westward to Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, went quickly and smoothly.
John Meyer, Gateway Fiber Chief Marketing Officer, summarizes, “For us at Gateway, this means we’re able to get into a market faster. Everstream drastically speeds up our deployment because of the ease of working with them and their network. At the end of the day, a reliable middle mile creates value for our customers, giving them peace of mind that the internet will be there when they need it.”
| Gateway Fiber | SERVICES PROVIDED | CHALLENGES | OUTCOMES |
| Customer Since 2020 | Dark Fiber | Lack of scalability, growing bandwidth needs | High capacity, diverse connections |