{"id":71162,"date":"2025-08-15T21:32:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T21:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/71162\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T21:32:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T21:32:10","slug":"hunter-communications-expands-its-fiber-internet-into-salem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/71162\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunter Communications expands its fiber internet into Salem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An internet service provider based in the Rogue Valley is expanding into Salem with the goal of providing high-speed fiber internet service to 7,000 homes in the city\u2019s northeast neighborhoods by the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>That number will expand over time as more infrastructure is installed across Salem in neighborhoods like Morningside, Faye Wright, Grant and Highland, company officials said. The Central Point-based <a href=\"https:\/\/hunterfiber.com\/serving\/salem\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hunter Communications<\/a> also plans to eventually offer internet to businesses, hire permanent local work crews, and will build an office in town as it establishes a foothold. Company officials said that process could take years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/parentinghub.org\/for-parents\/imagination-library\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Dolly Parton&#039;s Imagination Library Free Gift of Reading Marion Polk early learning hub Salem Oregon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/DPIL-Salem-Reporter-Ad-3.png\" alt=\"Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Free Gift of Reading Marion Polk early learning hub Salem Oregon\"   width=\"1400\" height=\"230\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The company has offices in Klamath Falls, Grants Pass, Eugene, and McMinnville. It is now expanding into Salem partially because Salem is underserved in its access to fiber-optic internet connection, said Mindi Brock, the company\u2019s digital marketing manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn estimated 17% of the population here in Salem have fiber. So, they are underserved and overcharged,\u201d Brock told Salem Reporter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Xfinity, which is the brand name for Comcast\u2019s residential services, is the most widely available internet service provider in Salem, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/home\/internet\/best-internet-providers-in-salem-or\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CNET.<\/a> According to the website, 99% of homes in Salem have access to Xfinity which offers both cable and fiber internet options.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fiber internet is a type of connection that relies on a network of cables made from special glass and rubber that transmit data using light directly to a home or business, <a href=\"https:\/\/hunterfiber.com\/how-does-fiber-internet-work\/#:~:text=Fiber%20internet%20uses%20a%20network,interference%20common%20to%20copper%20wires.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hunter\u2019s website said.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Currently companies like Quantum Fiber also offer fiber internet in certain areas, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/home\/internet\/best-internet-providers-in-salem-or\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CNET<\/a>, however, the website said fiber internet is limited in Salem.\u00a0The more common internet infrastructure in Salem is cable internet which uses coaxial cables to send data using electrical signals.<\/p>\n<p>Brock said what will make Hunter stand apart from national telecom companies is a lower cost and local service.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody that works for Hunter, we don\u2019t subcontract out of state. We all live and work here in Oregon,\u201d Brock said. \u201cEven our customer service team, we have some in McMinnville. So, if you call, you might get someone in McMinnville, Eugene or in Central Point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the company, service through Hunter starts at $30 and goes up to $120 depending on the speed of internet.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hunter\u2019s vice president of construction, Jim Lamp, got to Salem with his crew last week. They\u2019re working on the company\u2019s first service station, located in a residential area in northeast Salem at 1168 15th Street N.E.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to providing service in Salem, Lamp said Hunter intends to be a fixture in the community. While the company hopes to have limited service up and running by the end of the year, a timeline for expanding service city-wide is still uncertain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is too far out because the construction has a lot of variables,\u201d Lamp said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lamp said his crew at the moment is commuting from Eugene, but that as work unfolds, the company will hire a local team and set up a base of operations in Salem. Lamp said those jobs will be here to stay because the new infrastructure will require long-term maintenance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will not stop building in Salem until it is all built. We will be here for years to come,\u201d Lamp said. \u201cWe are not a company that comes in and builds and then somebody else takes it over. Whatever I build I already know I\u2019ll have to maintain for 30 plus years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Contact reporter Joe Siess:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.salemreporter.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection\" class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"e983868ca99a88858c849b8c99869b9d8c9bc78a8684\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0or 503-335-7790.<\/p>\n<p>A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE\u00a0\u2013 If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don\u2019t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now \u2013 easy and secure:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.salemreporter.com\/subscribe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SUBSCRIBE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Salem-Reporter-Profile-Shoot-6_24_25-21-of-36-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-150x150 size-150x150 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An internet service provider based in the Rogue Valley is expanding into Salem with the goal of providing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[64,63,237,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-71162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-internet","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}