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Investment in IQ Fiber signals internet expansion across Northeast Florida

Jordan Kirkland

Jacksonville, Florida, USA downtown city skyline.

Jacksonville may soon have a new affordable, high-speed Internet provider to compete with telecom giants AT&T and Comcast.

SDC Capital Partners (“SDC), a global digital infrastructure investment firm, announced this week they acquired a majority interest in IQ Fiber, a new residential fiber-optic internet provider headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The investment will provide IQ Fiber with significant funding to complete its first phase of building an all-fiber network that will provide 60,000 homes in the Jacksonville area with the high-speed service.

“Consumers deserve a smarter internet choice,” said IQ Fiber CEO Ted Schremp. “High-speed internet has become a necessity and is truly the heartbeat of the modern home. With the launch of IQ Fiber, Jacksonville residents will soon have access to a state-of-the-art, 100% fiber-optic network with gigabit upload and download speeds, simple subscription plans and service experts who live and work in our community.”

Schremp, who previously served as CMO for Charter Communications from 2008 to 2011, said in an interview that the initial plan will see it offer services in Jacksonville starting in early Q2 2022, noting that the internet service provider will deploy a XGS-PON fiber network that will offer three service plans — with speeds of 250 Mbps for $65 per month, 500 Mbps for $75 per month and 1 gig for $85 per month — that will jumpstart the company’s vision to expand across Northeast Florida to serve residents in Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties.

“That four county area represents an opportunity for us that is five times bigger than our initial Phase I build,” Schremp told Fierce. “So we know we’ve got not just opportunity to get this first 60,000 that we’ve announced, but plenty of additional opportunity as we go forward just inside this little corner of Florida that’s growing as quickly as it is.

“A gig to the side of your house is useless if you went to Best Buy and bought a router five years ago and are just bumping along, and the average consumer just really doesn’t know how to contend with that,” he said. “The reality is they’re looking at the service provider to solve that for them and certainly that’s good for us in terms of the management of churn and the delivery of the full speeds,” he continued.

IQ Fiber also plans to offer simple month-to-month rates with no hidden fees, surcharges or surprise price increases, with whole-home Wi-Fi service always included.

“We are thrilled to partner with IQ Fiber in its initial launch in Jacksonville and are excited about the larger opportunity in Northeast Florida and beyond,” said Clinton Karcher, partner at SDC. “IQ Fiber’s commitment to providing exceptional customer service, coupled with state-of-the-art fiber network infrastructure in an underserved market, creates a formula for success.”

Fiber to the home represents the state-of-the-art for the delivery of broadband services, yet it is accessible to only 36 percent of the U.S. population. Compounding the consumer challenge, approximately 83 million Americans can only access broadband through a single provider.