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Rainbow Communications says fiber now available to about 2,334 Atchison homes; build to continue
Summary
Rainbow Communications updated the Atchison City Commission on its multi-year fiber build. Company representatives said 2,334 homes in Atchison are passed and another roughly 2,200 are planned; Rainbow has invested about $10.59 million in the city to date.
Rainbow Communications gave the Atchison City Commission an update on its multiyear fiber-optic network build during the Feb. 3 meeting, saying service is currently available to about 2,334 homes in the city and that the company expects to pass roughly another 2,200 homes over the next two years.
The update came from Angie Kreider, director of business development for Rainbow Communications, who described a live signup map (fiber.rainbowtel.net) residents can use to request service and said work that began in the planning stages in 2018–2019 continued through the COVID period and into the present.
Kreider said the project has progressed in phases, covering downtown business districts first and later neighborhoods including Mount Scholastica, Jackson Park and Bromley Park. "So, that is about 2,334 homes passed in Atchison," Kreider said. She added that about another 2,200 homes are included in areas the company plans to complete in the next 24 months.
Kreider told commissioners Rainbow has invested $10,588,715 to date in Atchison for the fiber build. She said progress slowed at times by technical work required for pole attachments — including audits and weight-limit checks for utility poles controlled by Evergy and AT&T — and that engineers have been re-staking and re-evaluating later phases to account for those requirements.
Commissioners and staff asked about ownership and local governance of the provider. Kreider said the parent company is a locally owned cooperative, Rainbow Telecommunications, based in Everest, Kansas, governed by a nine-member local board and serving roughly 8,000 customers across northeast Kansas. She said the cooperative structure helped secure grant funding in some areas and kept Atchison a priority for the build.
Mayor Mary Young and other commissioners thanked Rainbow for its investment and local partnership. The presentation noted prior local contributions and partnerships that helped extend service to business park areas and the Amelia Earhart Airport hangar museum, and Kreider said Rainbow continues to seek grant funding to accelerate other builds.
The presentation ended with an offer to field questions and provide paper maps for commissioners and residents interested in specific coverage areas.
