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A sign north of U.S. Highway 2 just west of Havre identifies the turnoff to the Hill County Electric-Triangle Communications headquarters. Triangle announced Tuesday that it will begin laying fiber-optic cable to offer telephone and internet services to a section of Havre along First Street from Fleet Wholesale Supply to Seventh Avenue and south of First Street in some locations including to the Hill County Courthouse.
The areas in blue show where Triangle Communications will be offering service.
After several months of reaching out and gauging the interest of area businesses, Triangle Communications will soon provide phone and fiber-optic internet service in an area within Havre city limits.
Triangle Communications CEO Craig Gates said Tuesday the company will offer phone, internet and some network maintenance services to business networks and residents in the area from Fleet Wholesale Supply on the western edge of Havre to the viaduct on Seventh Avenue and south to the Hill County Courthouse on Fourth Street, in what Gates calls Phase 1 of a project to expand service into Havre.
In recent months, Gates said, Triangle employees have gone door to door to get commitments. So far they have secured 100-200 commitments.
"We got most of the people in the area and we think once we are in place the rest of them will want to come because our product will by far be the most super product in the market," Gates said.
Most of their clients within the designated area will be businesses, but there are also residents who fall into that area. Gates said he did not know how many residents would be eligible for services or had committed to Triangle.
Gates said Triangle is now in the process of making sure they have the easements needed to move forward with hanging the lines and putting in place the necessary infrastructure.
Crews will start getting involved in the construction soon and Triangle hopes everything is in place by late summer or early fall, Marketing and Sales Manager Bethany Chinadle said.
Triangle offers internet at a base speed of 75 megabytes, Chinadle said.
Unlike some internet providers, Triangle had to get commitments from businesses before deciding on whether to move forward with the expansion into Havre.
"We don't have the deep pockets of Charter or Century Link, so we have to pay for it as we go," Gates said. "So we can't just build it and hope they come."
Gates said Triangle may at some point offer services to other parts of Havre, but there are no plans in the immediate future to do so.
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