The magic of fibre optic Internet is coming soon to rural communities, courtesy of Swift Underground.
The Steinbach-based construction company co-helmed by Evan Schroeder was established in 2021, after Xplornet, now Xplore Inc., purchased Swift High Speed; a change which served to enhance their service and cement their reputation.
“Now with fibre optics, we’re bringing true rural high-speed Internet to the communities closest to us,” explains Schroeder. “We're just over a year from the time that Swift High Speed, which was our Internet Service Provider company, was acquired by Xplore Inc. and Swift Underground, our new fibre construction company and Xplore Internet dealer, was contracted to do all the same work we were doing beforehand – all the installs and repairs.”
Schroeder explains the company changed their name from Swift High-Speed to Swift Underground to more accurately represent most of the work they're doing with fibre optics – getting more people in rural communities connected to underground services that aren’t as prone to cutting out during weather events.
“The weather this year has been tough to work through,” confesses Schroeder. “Part of that has been leaving a lot of tracks where we've done our work. Our teams clean that up quickly, but working underground is a process! So we're really happy to be partnering with Xplore Inc. to bring access to proper fibre services to people living in the country.”
Schroeder says Xplore Fibre service starts at $69.99 a month.
“You really can't ask for a better price for ridiculous amounts of speed compared to the wireless networks we've had before. Xplore Inc. is allowing rural customers to get access to fibre at the same speeds and prices you’d pay in the city!”
He adds that the speed and capacity of fibre optics is substantially higher than other options have been.
“Fixed wireless has traditionally been up to 50 megabits per second on download speeds. The fibre platform starts at 100 megabits and goes up to a gigabit, which is 1000 megabits. We’re excited that it's more stable, so it doesn't adhere to any weather conditions that might come by – and this year we've had an unreal number of weather and storm issues, being as wet as it has been. Fibre is a lot more stable in getting that service to our customers in the country.”
Schroeder says they’re pleased to still have the same staff in the field doing the work, so if their customers require service, the familiar Swift Underground crew will be the ones to arrive.
“You'll recognize our faces, you'll recognize our trucks, and we'll be the ones getting your service installed or repaired.”
If you live in a rural area and want to get connected with high-speed fibre optic Internet service at affordable prices, visit https://swiftunderground.com/internet or call 204-846-7984.