Very few homes need internet service at 1 gigabit per second, but that hasn’t stopped the Bend area’s top providers from chasing the 1-gig milestone.

CenturyLink began providing fiber-optic service with internet speeds up to 1 Gbps in certain parts of Bend and Redmond in 2015, and BendBroadband hopes to reach that maximum throughout its network within a few years.

Meanwhile, business-focused internet service provider BendTel says it has a lot of business customers using 1 Gbps, and this year it began offering speeds at 10 Gbps or more.

Internet service at 1 Gbps is enough for a family of five to stream five high-definition movies at one time with enough bandwidth remaining to surf the Web and send email.

BendBroadband canceled a previously announced three-month trial of 1 Gbps service in Redmond, which was to begin Oct. 1, because the latest network technology wasn’t ready. So the company, a subsidiary of TDS Telecom, is working to upgrade its existing network and equipment to make 1 Gbps service possible, Engineering Director Wade Holmes said.

Just last spring, BendBroadband announced residential service at a maximum of 300 megabits per second. Scott Schultz, director of product management at TDS Telecom, said Bend is so far the company’s strongest market for 300 Mbps internet service.

“The way 300 megabits is going, it leads me to believe we’ll be going to a gig much sooner than I thought we would,” he said.

Schultz said about 5 percent of BendBroadband customers are using the 300 Mbps service, and they tend to be “over-the-top” technology users streaming ultra-high definition video, using internet-connected home appliances or playing video games.

CenturyLink, which traditionally operates over copper telephone lines, has been installing fiber-optic cable in new residential construction in Bend and Redmond since 2015, said Guy Carrion, construction project administrator.

The fiber installations mean customers can order service up to 1 Gbps, though he said, “It hasn’t been a great number that wanted it.”

CenturyLink has installed fiber at the recently constructed Seasons at Farmington Reserve apartment complex in southeast Bend, newer sections of Northwest Crossing in Bend and Pahlisch Homes and Hayden Homes subdivisions in Bend and Redmond, Carrion said. Although demand for the highest possible speeds is not great, Carrion said those who do want it are typically tech professionals working from home, and they want it badly. That’s why CenturyLink is planning to continue laying fiber in hopes of covering the remainder of Northwest Crossing, he said.

Another benefit of reaching new milestones in internet speeds is the confidence it instills in all customers, even those who won’t use the top-tier service, said Thomas Barrett, CEO of BendTel. The local phone and internet provider completed a new fiber ring around central Bend early this year at a cost of about $1 million, he said. The ring has enough bandwidth to provide business customers guaranteed speeds of 10 Gbps or more.

“Ten gig in Bend is almost overkill,” Barrett said. BendTel has three large-business customers using the highest level of service, and one is a data center. .

“It shows the city of Bend is ready for large businesses,” he said.

—Reporter: kmclaughlin@bendbulletin.com, 541-617-7860