CORNING, N.Y — Corning Incorporated announced that Tri-Co Connections, a fiber-to-the-home internet service provider and wholly owned subsidiary of Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative, has selected Corning as their supplier of choice to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to rural communities in North Central Pennsylvania.

Tri-Co Connections will deploy fiber infrastructure across a more than 3,200-mile service area to provide data transmission speeds up to 1000Mbps, unlimited local and long-distance phone service and home security service to its subscribers. The project will deliver fiber broadband to more than 18,000 homes and businesses over the next six years.

“Corning’s proximity to our service area, rich history of innovation in the FTTH space and track record of deploying fiber to rural communities made them the right partner for Tri-Co,” said Bill Gerski, senior vice president of business development at Tri-Co Connections. “Once completed, our new optical network will advance the region’s economic development objectives and improve the quality of life for the residents we serve.”

The Tri-Co subsidiary will deploy optical fiber cable, housings and jumpers from Corning’s FTTH product portfolio for all phases of the project to overcome the challenges of distance, density and terrain in the mountainous North Central Pennsylvania region.

“Corning looks forward to working with Tri-Co to deliver fiber to the people of North Central Pennsylvania,” said Angela Haneklau, Vice President of North American Carrier Network Sales for Corning Optical Communications.

Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative delivers electricity to its members in seven Pennsylvania counties — Tioga, Potter, Bradford, Lycoming, McKean, Cameron and Clinton. Incorporated in 1936, the co-op is headquartered in Mansfield and maintains district offices in Coudersport, Germania, Liberty, Mainesburg and Westfield. Tri-County is a not-for-profit energy provider owned by the people it serves.