More than 7,000 homes and small businesses in Sumter County now have access to Spectrum’s high-speed internet, mobile, TV and voice services following the company’s latest broadband expansion.

The expansion is part of Spectrum’s more than $7 billion rural construction initiative, a nationwide project to extend fiber-optic infrastructure to underserved communities. The multi-year effort is expected to add more than 100,000 miles of fiber-optic network and bring broadband access to more than 1.7 million locations across the country.

Residents in the newly served areas can now subscribe to Spectrum Internet with download speeds up to 1 gigabit per second. The company says its residential service starts at 500 Mbps, with no data caps, modem fees or annual contracts.

“Spectrum is bringing gigabit broadband to unserved communities in Florida and across America,” says Bill Pisowicz, vice president of construction for Spectrum. “Our investment is making it possible to deliver high-value broadband, mobile, TV and voice services now available in Sumter County.”

State Rep. Samantha Scott says expanded broadband service will improve access to education, healthcare and economic opportunities.

“Access to internet fuels our economy and makes accessing services like healthcare, education and professional development available from the comfort of home,” Scott says.

Sumter County Administrator Bradley Arnold says the expansion will help connect more residents and businesses to reliable internet service.

“For far too long, many Sumter County residents have been missing out on economic opportunity due to a lack of access to a wired, consistent internet connection,” Arnold says. “Florida’s partnership with Spectrum to expand its network in Sumter County is bringing affordable high-speed internet to residents and keeping our communities competitive in the 21st century.”

Residents and business owners can check service availability at spectrumruralexpansion.com.