Fidium Fiber vs. Optimum Internet Providers Compared

Fidium Fiber offers good pricing and fast fiber.

Fidium Fiber launched as a residential fiber brand in late 2021 under parent company Consolidated Communications. In September 2025, Consolidated Communications completed a major transformation by uniting all its residential, business, and wholesale operations under the single Fidium brand [1,2], effectively retiring the Consolidated Communications name for customer-facing services. Fidium now represents all the company's fiber-based solutions nationwide and serves more than 75 percent of its broadband customers [2,3]. Available in more than 700 communities [2,3], Fidium currently operates in 8 states: California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont [1]. The company offers competitive pricing across all plans, with their lowest-priced residential plan starting at 100 Mbps and maximum speeds reaching 2000 Mbps. A Wi-Fi 6 gateway rental is included with monthly fees, and Fidium requires no contracts or data caps. The company has invested approximately $1.7 billion in fiber infrastructure since 2020 and earned recognition as one of the nation's top 10 fiber networks by route miles [2,3]. The company is on track to reach more than 80 percent of its footprint with fiber within the next few years [1,2]. This expansion strategy continues to prioritize underserved communities, particularly in rural areas where high-speed internet options have historically been limited, differentiating Fidium from providers that focus primarily on dense urban markets. The unified Fidium brand now encompasses three service lines: Fidium Fiber for residential customers, Fidium Business for commercial clients, and Fidium Wholesale for carrier and infrastructure providers. Searchlight Capital acquired the company in late 2024 and is undergoing a leadership transition, with current COO Gaurav Juneja set to become CEO in early 2026 [4].

Fidium Fiber’s pricing is simple, transparent, and matches other best deals.

Fidium Fiber offers competitive prices across the board, with no hidden fees. Understanding Fidium Fiber's pricing structure reveals significant advantages over traditional cable internet providers, who typically use promotional pricing that increases substantially after 12-24 months. The entry-level plan, currently starting at $30/month, offers 100 Mbps download and upload speeds. For families on tight budgets, this is one of the most affordable first-tier plan prices you'll find in the fiber industry. With those symmetrical speeds, you will get very good internet performance for activities like video conferencing. Fidium Fiber's 1 Gig plan, at $55 per month, translates to approximately 5.5 cents per Mbps—among the most competitive rates in the fiber industry. By comparison, entry-level fiber from providers like AT&T or Verizon typically ranges from 10-15 cents per Mbps. Best of all, you will get transparent, straightforward pricing from Fidium Fiber that is much easier to understand than the complex pricing of many other internet service providers (ISPs). Fidium Fiber requires no contracts, no bundling, and no data caps. That means you won't face bills with unexpected overage charges or early termination fees. This customer-friendly policy contrasts sharply with many traditional providers who lock customers into annual agreements with substantial penalty fees. You also won't have the usual $100 installation cost for new internet, as Fidium Fiber offers free professional installation. Fidium Fiber will include the use of a modem/router with your monthly plan price.

Good initial prices followed by price hikes

Cable internet is the chief type of connection that Optimum provides its customers. Because of improvements to cable internet technology, you can get gigabit download speeds from many cable internet companies like Optimum. You just won’t get the same upload speeds from cable as you will from an all-fiber connection [3]. Whether you get the usual cable service or all-fiber, you will get good prices from Optimum, and those prices will be locked for 2 years. Here’s an example. You’ll pay $40/month for Optimum’s first tier plan, which is up to 300. That is a good price for these speeds. The catch is that after those two years, standard prices will take effect, which will spike your bill higher. That may be why Optimum is seeing year-over-year declines in its cable customers [4]. The price hikes may be pushing people to other options at the end of their two-year promotion.

Fidium Fiber brings the speed and reliability of fiber to new service areas.

Fidium Fiber offers symmetrical speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 2000 Mbps, depending on your plan. That's great news if you live in a town that hasn't had fiber internet before. According to Federal Communications Commission data, Fidium Fiber currently reaches approximately 1.56 million fiber passings across more than 700 communities in eight states. The company plans to expand to 2 million passings by the end of 2027, with coverage concentrated in the Northeast—particularly Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Secondary markets include Illinois, Minnesota, and Texas, while California, Pennsylvania, and other states have more limited availability. You can call our experts at 1-833-438-0953 to quickly discover if Fidium is available in your area. Fidium Fiber's symmetrical speed delivery represents a fundamental advantage over cable internet technology. The practical implications become apparent in real-world usage scenarios: home-based professionals uploading large files, families sharing content on social media, and households using cloud storage services experience dramatically improved performance with Fidium Fiber compared to cable alternatives. Network latency, a critical factor for gaming and video conferencing, benefits significantly from fiber-optic technology. Fidium Fiber connections typically deliver latency measurements under 10 milliseconds to nearby servers, compared to 15-30 milliseconds common with cable internet connections. This reduced latency creates noticeable improvements in online gaming responsiveness and video call quality. The dedicated nature of fiber connections provides another performance advantage. Cable internet systems share bandwidth among multiple households in a service area, potentially causing speed reductions during peak usage times. Fidium Fiber's infrastructure design maintains consistent speeds regardless of neighborhood usage patterns, ensuring reliable performance throughout the day. Peak hour performance stability makes Fidium Fiber particularly valuable for households with multiple users and devices. Some Fidium Fiber customers have said that they are not getting their promised speeds, but others report being very satisfied [7]. If you have any doubts, you can test your actual speed here to see what kind of performance your current internet connection is giving you.

Cable and fiber both provide fast download speeds, but cable's upload speeds are slower

With hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) technology, Optimum gives its cable customers gigabit download speeds but much slower upload speeds. That’s typical for cable internet service. Optimum is comparable to other major cable internet providers such as Spectrum and Xfinity, offering upload speeds at a maximum of around 35-50 Mbps. Optimum differs from the cable internet competition because it is also launching into the all-fiber internet market. Optimum’s current fiber internet customer base is small but has doubled in the last couple of years from around 100,000 to over 200,000 subscribers [4]. By 2025, Optimum plans to create over 6.5 million fiber passings [5]. Fiber internet’s most striking advantage over cable internet is that fiber offers symmetrical upload and download speeds. This is a game-changer for online gaming, videoconferencing, and large homes with multiple devices. When Altice merged Suddenlink under the Optimum brand, the company had two distinct “footprints” left from where the old Optimum and Suddenlink coverage had existed. Suddenlink’s coverage area had been primarily in the South and West. Optimum was strong in the Northeast, and particularly in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Now, the fiber buildout is fastest in that tristate area [1]. Your chances of getting fiber internet from Optimum in the next year or two will be better if you live in the tri-state area.

Free installation, free equipment loan with Fidium Fiber internet plans.

Several fiber ISPs will offer you good promotional prices and no contracts. They may even offer no data caps, as Fidium Fiber does. But very few ISPs also offer free installation for all their plans. The free installation for Fidium Fiber is a nice touch, meaning you don't have to invest upfront to get Fidium Fiber. Fidium Fiber's installation process demonstrates the company's commitment to professional service and customer convenience. The free professional installation (typically a $199 value) includes a comprehensive setup of fiber-optic infrastructure, extending from the street connection to a complete in-home network configuration. Professional technicians handle all aspects of the installation, including running fiber-optic cables to the optimal location within your home, installing the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) that converts light signals to electrical data, and configuring the Wi-Fi 6 Gateway for optimal coverage throughout your residence. Fidium Fiber will provide you with free use of a Wi-Fi 6 Gateway and a whole-home Attune Wi-Fi app, allowing you to control all your devices. The Wi-Fi 6 Gateway may have equipment rental fees depending on the plan (typically around $10/month for lower-tier plans, with some higher-speed plans including equipment at no additional cost). The gateway represents current-generation wireless technology that provides improved performance for homes with multiple connected devices, offering enhanced capacity for various connections, reduced latency, and better performance in environments with numerous smart home devices, tablets, smartphones, and computers. The Attune Wi-Fi app provides comprehensive network management capabilities that go beyond basic router administration. If you have smart home devices, the app will be especially useful. Users can monitor data usage patterns, set parental controls for specific devices, prioritize bandwidth for critical applications, and troubleshoot connection issues without requiring technical expertise. It's also convenient to have a network management app when you want to adjust your settings without logging into your router. Installation flexibility includes evening and weekend appointment availability, recognizing that many customers prefer installation times that don't interfere with work schedules. The commitment to next-day installation availability in many areas reflects Fidium Fiber's focus on customer convenience and quick service activation. For customers who prefer to use their existing networking equipment, Fidium Fiber accommodates personal router preferences while ensuring the fiber connection delivers optimal performance.

No equipment rental fees, free installation with Optimum plans

Optimum will provide your modem/router as part of your monthly plan fee, with no extra rental charge. If you have a compatible cable plan, you may even get a Wi-Fi 6 router, which will give you higher speeds for multiple devices than Wi-Fi 5. Fiber internet plans from Optimum will often include the Wi-Fi 6 gateway as well. If you would rather use your own modem and router, Optimum will allow it. Just be sure to check for compatibility with their specs. Standard installation is free with Optimum plans.

Reviews are high for Fidium Fiber’s customer service and operations.

Fidium has grown substantially from its initial customer base of approximately 123,000 fiber broadband customers at the end of 2022 [8]. With about 1.56 million current fiber passings and plans to reach about 2 million by the end of 2027 [10], the company has demonstrated significant scaling capabilities in its buildout efforts. The customer service landscape has matured considerably since launch. Fidium has earned one of the industry's highest Net Promoter Scores [1,2], indicating the company has successfully addressed many of the operational growing pains typical of new fiber providers. Early customer complaints about installation delays, communication issues, and service inconsistencies have been resolved as the company refined its processes and expanded its workforce. The local technician model continues to differentiate Fidium from national providers, offering more personalized service and a deeper knowledge of regional infrastructure challenges. Customer service quality has become more consistent across markets as the company has standardized operations and increased staffing levels to meet growing demand. Beyond the continued absence of data caps and contracts, Fidium has expanded its customer-focused approach across all service lines. The company's operational improvements have resulted in more reliable installation schedules, improved communication with customers, and more consistent delivery of promised speeds, addressing the specific pain points that characterized early customer feedback. With funding opportunities through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program [10], Fidium is positioned to accelerate its rural expansion strategy while maintaining the service quality improvements that have driven its high customer satisfaction ratings.

Optimum customer satisfaction: the big question mark

With so many seemingly good points to its service and pricing, why has Optimum’s customer satisfaction scored significantly below average according to J.D. Power? [6] A random sampling of online user reviews seems to indicate two major complaints. The first is outages and failure of technical response. The second is a more general dissatisfaction with the phone system, being transferred around to different departments, and getting contradictory responses from different phone reps when trying to solve billing issues. Because this is a fairly even distribution of complaints, it’s likely that Optimum is just not quick enough in responding to customer concerns, whether they be technical or billing-related. We can’t know the reason for this dysfunction. Often, these kinds of responsiveness issues happen when companies are understaffed or have high staff turnover in their customer service. But until Optimum gets better ratings, we have to give them only 3 stars for customer satisfaction.