Small-town Oregon is getting some super-fast internet service.
Wave Broadband said Thursday it will begin offering gigabit internet service in 18 small Oregon communities, including several where it is the first such provider.
A gigabit is 1,000 megabits per second, 40 times faster than the federal broadband standard. That's faster than the vast majority of homes need, but households are demanding more from their internet connections as people stream video online and hook up a growing number of connected devices.
CenturyLink has been offering gigabit speeds in a growing share of the Portland market since 2014, and Comcast began offering gigabit connections throughout its Oregon service territory in May.
Wave said its gigabit service is now available at residential and business addresses in Oregon City, Aurora, Barlow, Canby, Donald, Scotts Mills, Molalla, Aumsville, Gates, Lyons, Sublimity, Turner, Gervais, Hubbard, Woodburn, Silverton, Mt. Angel and Sandy.
Some of Wave's communities, among them Sandy and Canby, already had gigabit options through local internet service providers. In many rural parts of Oregon, though, connections remain considerably slower. Telecom companies are reluctant to invest in bringing high-capacity service to sparsely populated areas where it will be difficult to recoup the cost of upgrading their networks.
Wave, headquartered near Seattle, charges $80 per month for subscribers' first year of gigabit service and $99 a month thereafter.
-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699