Rochester, NY., July 29, 2021 – Greenlight Networks, the fastest fiber-to-the-home provider in New York State, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary today, July 29. Since launching in 2011, the company has invested more than $60 million in Monroe and surrounding counties, created more than 140 jobs, employed hundreds of local contractors, constructed the fastest fiber-to-the-home network in the state, connected the fastest known airport Wi-Fi network in the country, and saved thousands of dollars in internet service costs for tens of thousands of area residents. To commemorate these, and many more, accomplishments during the company’s 10 years in business, a special event was held at Greenlight’s headquarters in Henrietta, NY, today. Special guests in attendance included County Executive Adam Bello, Rochester Chamber President Bob Duffy, Greater Rochester Enterprise CEO Matt Hurlbutt, and Town Supervisors from across Monroe County.

During the event, Greenlight announced plans to bring its lightning-fast high-speed fiber optic Internet to 50 additional neighborhoods reaching 20,000 more households in Monroe County during 2021. In total, Greenlight’s fiber-to-the-home network is expected to reach 75,000 households across 14 municipalities in the area by year-end, with additional expansions underway in both Buffalo and Binghamton. A map of all current Greenlight service locations as well as areas currently under construction and planned expansion areas for Rochester in 2021 can be found here on Greenlight’s website.

Greenlight also announced that it has permanently increased its upload speeds to match its download speeds (also known as synchronous speeds) at no additional charge for residential customers. The company first provided this complimentary upload speed increase to its existing customers last March to assist with virtual learning and working through the pandemic. Now a permanent upgrade, Greenlight’s high-speed Internet package start at 500 Mpbs download and 500 Mpbs upload speeds, for the same $50 a month it has charged since it started in 2011. Compared to cable Internet, Greenlight’s Internet speeds are 2.5 times faster download and 50 times faster upload at one-third the cost.

“The growth of Greenlight Networks has been a huge benefit to our community, and I couldn’t be more proud to wish one of our brightest companies a happy 10-year anniversary,” said Monroe County Executive Adam Bello. “This difficult past year has made it clear to all of us that we need to build back better and build a Monroe County that provides access to all in this ever-connected world. I couldn’t be more thankful to Mark Murphy and his whole team at Greenlight for their commitment to bettering the quality of life of Monroe County residents, and I look forward to decades of growth and future success for this ever-important company.”

Reflecting on his company’s 10-year anniversary, founder and CEO Mark Murphy said, “I take great pride in what we have accomplished over the last decade. The Rochester community has embraced and emboldened Greenlight Networks and we are proud to be able to announce continued investment, expansion, and growth in this community. Never has high-speed broadband been more critical to work, education, health and overall quality of life. Reaching tens of thousands of additional Monroe, Erie, Broom and Tioga County residents in the next six months with fast and affordable fiber optic Internet and offering fast upload speeds in addition to download speeds, means our customers have the speed they need in this increasingly connected world.”

Murphy anticipated this new reality in 2011 when he created Greenlight Networks to provide households with Internet speeds previously only available to business and government customers. Greenlight became the first company in Rochester to run fiber-to-the-home, offering speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second. By 2018, Greenlight Networks had expanded to offer services in 10 municipalities across Monroe and Ontario County. In that year, Paychex founder Tom Golisano became majority investor in Greenlight Networks, followed by an investment by Impact Capital, led by Tom Bonadio.

Tom Golisano, who announced an additional $100 million investment in Greenlight in December of 2019, said, “When I first invested three years ago, I shared Mark’s vision for Greenlight. The demand for its higher-speed Internet services was overwhelming but the company only had 18 employees and needed the resources to meet the demand. I am delighted with the progress to-date and believe there remains significant opportunity ahead. High-speed and reliable fiber networks are important for streaming, gaming and smart homes. But with that speed, consumers expect a reasonable price. Greenlight meets both needs and I expect it will continue to be well received for years to come.”

Fellow Greenlight Networks Board member and CEO of the Bonadio Group, Tom Bonadio agreed. “We identified Greenlight Networks as a business ready for rapid scale-up and it has done just that. One of Impact Capital’s goals is to increase the number of career opportunities in upstate New York and are pleased at the pace at which Greenlight’s workforce has expanded. By helping young companies like Greenlight grow and create jobs, the whole region benefits,” said Bonadio.

Last October, Greenlight Networks opened a new headquarters, a renovated vacant building in Henrietta, NY. As part of the move, Greenlight committed to creating up to 93 new jobs over 5 years. At that time, the company had 78 employees (up from 53 in 2019). This past May, the company has further expanded its new 20,000 square foot space adding 9,600 square feet to house up to 59 additional employees. Today Greenlight employs 142 companywide, including employees of its Greenlight LeChase construction joint venture. In addition, it employs more than 200 contractors in field doing pre-construction, construction, and installation work.

In honor of its 10-year anniversary, Greenlight is offering free installation (a $100 value) for orders placed in its serviceable Greenlight districts until midnight on Friday, July 30. In addition, in a “random act of kindness” the company is waiving the installation fee for all customers who were scheduled for Greenlight service installations today. For the greater community, Greenlight is hosting a happy hour with specially brewed Greenlight sour apple beer at Three Heads Brewing tonight from 5-7 pm, and is offering free Greenlight mint chocolate chip ice cream at Yotality’s Pittsford location tomorrow, July 30, from 4-7 pm.

About Greenlight Networks, LLC: Greenlight Networks is an ultra-high-speed, broadband service provider, offering residential and small business customers Internet speeds up to 2 Gigabit per second. Greenlight Networks was founded in 2011 in Rochester, N.Y. Tom Golisano acquired a controlling interest in Greenlight Networks in mid-2018. Since then, Greenlight has tripled its staff and brought high-speed fiber internet to more than 50,000 homes in 14 municipalities. The company builds, owns and operates its fiber-optic networks to provide amazingly fast Internet connections to its customers. For more information on the company, visit GreenlightNetworks.com or find it on Facebook.com/GreenlightNetworks, and @GreenlightFiber on Twitter.