CLEVELAND – Everstream, the business-only fiber network, today announced that it has launched into the greater Chicago market, providing a new choice for businesses in the Chicago suburbs that require reliable, high-speed connectivity to grow and thrive. By the end of 2020, Everstream’s Chicago network will encompass more than 500 of the planned 1,200 route miles. The first leg of the dense fiber network, spanning more than 50 route miles, will stretch from Elgin north to East Dundee, Carpentersville and Algonquin, east to Streamwood, Itasca and Addison, and end in Oak Brook to the south. It will be lit in March.
Chicago is the third-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by population, with thriving suburbs that are home to growing technology, health care, manufacturing, finance and retail businesses. This region, however, is vastly underserved by fiber providers.
According to a study from CMA Strategy Consulting, an estimated 40% of businesses in Everstream’s planned coverage area only have access to fiber services from the traditional phone and cable providers. Everstream’s fiber network will be built to provide businesses in Chicago’s suburbs — from Rockford and McHenry in the north, through Schaumburg and Aurora, and to Naperville, Downers Grove and Bolingbrook in the south — with world-class connectivity.
“Unlike cities on the East Coast, where five or more competitive providers offer access to fiber networks alongside the phone and cable companies, most of the surrounding Chicago suburbs where Everstream plans to build are largely underserved,” said Brian Bagenstose, partner, CMA Strategy Consulting. “This lack of competition is an opportunity for Everstream to provide high-capacity, low-latency connectivity services to enterprises that have been denied a real choice for business network solutions.”
Everstream’s greater Chicago network includes:
- Plans to build a dense metro network of more than 1,200 miles in Chicago’s northern, western and southern suburbs, and invest $56 million throughout the greater Chicago area.
- Connectivity to three state-of-the-art data centers in the Chicago area, with access to more than 30 additional data centers — and growing — across the Midwest.
- Direct connection to Everstream’s expanding Midwest footprint.
- A local office that will grow to more than 20 new team members, including a sales team led by Jeff Zator, Regional Vice President of Sales, and dedicated field engineers led by Greg Meinczinger, Regional Vice President of Operations, to support area customers.
“Chicago presents a tremendous new opportunity for Everstream as we continue to grow our presence and bring enterprise-grade fiber services to businesses in the Midwest,” said Everstream President and CEO Brett Lindsey. “Everstream is uniquely positioned to deliver both virtually unlimited bandwidth and the low-latency service levels required for optimal application performance, especially in the suburban Chicago area. The market is ripe for a business-only fiber provider like Everstream to come in and provide the robust services these businesses demand.”
Everstream’s enterprise-grade network delivers robust business fiber services, including dedicated internet access, dark fiber, Ethernet and data center solutions. Everstream’s advanced fiber network offers direct peering with all major carriers and cloud hyperscalers. With high-speed, low-latency connections, it can accommodate converged internet, voice and data services at speeds of up to 100 Gbps.
The greater Chicago launch is part of Everstream’s ongoing footprint growth throughout select markets in the Midwest. The company is on track to grow to more than 15,000 miles of fiber with more than 3,000 on-net locations in 12 markets throughout the Midwest by the end of 2020. As Everstream’s network grows, its customers benefit from more diverse network options and direct connection to data centers and locations in the expanded region.
To learn more and view Everstream’s network and expansion efforts, visit everstream.net/network-expansion.