News and Events

 

Long-time customers of Midco know that our service updates and upgrades can be a relatively common experience. This means your services are being improved regularly, so no one is complaining, but you might wonder how it’s possible (and why it’s necessary) that we’re continually enhancing your download speeds, upload speeds and overall reliability.  

If you’re thinking, “Wait, I can already sense you’re about to use terms I don’t understand… please help.” Don’t worry! Just check out Part 1 of this 2-part series, where we cover definitions for download and upload speeds, reliability, latency, jitter, nodes, amplifiers, service groups, congestion and splitting.  

Technology continues advancing at a mind-boggling pace. And just because Midco is already providing our residential customers with lightning-fast upload and download speeds – including astonishing reliability, industry-low latency and jitter, and very little network congestion to ensure the best experience humanly possible – doesn’t mean we can’t (or won’t) always use every technological advantage we can to continuously fine-tune our service offerings.  

Let’s think of it like a report card. Our services today might earn us an A+. We could rest on our laurels, but what happens two years from now when, based on the technology available then, the service we provide today might earn only a B? It’s actually an interesting question, because end users like you may not even recognize the difference between an A+ service offering and a B-rated offering. Why? Because the improvements to your user experience are just so incrementally small. However, we have a clear vision for the future of internet service, and that’s why we continually improve what we can provide you. 

Currently, there are three main ways we improve our service capabilities. 

Laying Fiber 

Fiber cable is the Cadillac of internet service. It provides the fastest speeds, the highest-quality signals, and the greatest reliability ratings. If fiber has a downside, it’s that if you’re not already on fiber, we will need to come to your house (assuming it is available in your neighborhood), run the fiber from a central post to your house and then come inside to hook up new equipment.  

We mentioned the caveat that it needs to be available in your neighborhood. Midco spends all day, every day running fiber across our service areas. And one thing we do differently than other internet service providers is activate fiber on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. Other providers may wait until an entire city is fiber-ready before turning it on, so even if you have fiber running to the post in your backyard, you may need to wait several months to get it. We don’t do business that way. For more information on our fiber strategy, we invite you to read about our Fiber Forward initiative. 

Another way Midco is different from other providers is in the appointment windows we offer. Remember the days of “Would you like 8 am to noon, or 1-5 pm?” While most service-at-home businesses have gotten that down to two-hour windows, Midco proudly offers 15-minute service windows – with a 95% on-time rate. If we tell you 1 pm, we’ll be there no later than 1:15 pm!  

Reducing Service Groups 

With a service group reduction, you will see workers on your block or a truck on your street taking fiber deeper into your neighborhood and installing new nodes. In addition to adding nodes (remember, that’s how we make service groups smaller), we’re also replacing all existing nodes and amplifiers with new, state-of-the-art electronic equipment. While it’s not necessarily always fiber, we are delivering tangible benefits, including increasing speeds by as much as 500%.  

These are the types of upgrades we mentioned earlier: We’re already getting an A+ on our report card, but as technology advances, we don’t want to be getting B grades in a few years, even if you won’t notice the difference.  

As the number of devices per household continues to skyrocket, reductions in service group sizes and all new electronics get us ahead of potential network congestion issues in the future. Plus, there’s already no node-overcrowding with Midco. 

 

Upgrading Electronics 

Tech improvements are being made in areas where our service group sizes are already strong – meaning there’s little value in adding more nodes in these areas. Nevertheless, we still want to replace the existing nodes and amplifiers with the same state-of-the-art equipment described above. This new suite of electronics is 1.2 Ghz-ready, positioning our service capabilities well ahead of current and even near-future needs, including increasing speeds by as much as 500%. We’re actively preparing our residential customers for what’s coming five to ten years down the road.  

With all this work going on – whether it’s visible to you or completely behind the scenes – we are continually improving your internet experience. And that is why you keep hearing about Midco upgrading your service. Rest assured that we’re not “getting you caught up to existing service standards” but are instead preparing you for a future you may have yet to even conceive.  

 

Why Our Commitment to World-Class Service Capabilities Runs So Deep 

It’s more than just competitive differentiation that drives Midco to continually upgrade our service offerings. Our commitment to world-class service capabilities leads directly to improved economic development, stronger education systems and a higher quality of life. 

Improved Economic Development

To continually upgrade and bring future-ready internet capabilities to more communities, we bring construction crews into new communities to create new service hubs, often for several months at a time, stimulating local economies through lodging, restaurants, groceries and more.  

Once the hubs are completed, these cities and towns become more attractive places to live because of cutting-edge internet connectivity and reliability capabilities. It’s just like the new baseball field in an Iowa cornfield in Field of Dreams – if you build it, they will come – and come they do when we make a committed investment in these towns. 

Stronger Educational System

Whether we’re talking about elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, or colleges and universities, quality internet is critical to providing the best learning opportunities for our students. By ensuring lightning-fast and super reliable internet, Midco is proudly strengthening the capabilities of our local schools.  

Long gone are the days when a good internet connection was a luxury – today, it is a baseline requirement. Providing that for the cities and towns we service only strengthens the educational frameworks they can offer.  

Higher Quality of Life

Not everyone wants to live in the big city, right? Where you live should not mean you have to sacrifice the best services for things like housing, workout options, internet capabilities and more. All things being equal, however, many of us might prefer smalltown life, and Midco makes that possible in communities all across the Midwest. 

First, with remote work opportunities at an all-time high, many of us can work from wherever we want – so long as we have that coveted lightning-fast internet. By providing that service, Midco is enabling individuals and families alike with the accessible, world-class internet required for working remotely. With Midco as your provider, whether you’re a web designer or call center representative, a copywriter or accountant, you’re welcome anywhere there’s quality internet. 

Second, robust internet services open the door for emerging service offerings like telehealth. You no longer have to live near the best health care providers because receiving that care can occur (and is already occurring) right over the internet.  

The bottom line is that excellent internet service opens every imaginable door for a higher quality of life.  

And Midco is not only delivering – we’re actually making it better for five, ten, and even twenty years down the road. In fact, while we are currently running 10 gig circuits, our five-year plan is to enable 25 gig (and eventually 100+ gig services) to our customers. Can you even imagine what that might look like? We’re not sure we can either, but you can be sure we’re ready for it. Our half-million (and counting) customers are counting on it!