Rural telecommunication company InterBel has been serving the Eureka area since the early 1960s. Chris O’Boyle, sales executive and brand ambassador for the company, is new to the industry but understands the mission through and through.

“Fiber internet is the conduit of the future. I guess you could say it’s the most up-to-date connectivity. And you know, InterBel’s laying that fiber groundwork throughout the valley to bring that to people in underserved areas,” O’Boyle said. 

Bringing high-speed internet to rural areas has been the focus of many local telecommunication companies for several years now. But O’Boyle said InterBel’s commitment to good customer service goes back decades. 

InterBel started offering telephone service in 1964, then evolved with the industry to offer dial-up internet in 1998. The company was the first in Montana to discontinue dial-up and convert all customers to broadband using DSL in 2011, according to its website. 

The company made a commitment to lay fiber throughout Eureka several years later, then decided to expand its fiber infrastructure into the Flathead Valley over the last couple of years. O’Boyle said the service stretches down U.S. 93 into Whitefish and continues off Farm to Market Road, keeping projects concentrated in the West Valley for now. 

“Laying fiber is relatively expensive. It kind of goes up and down depending on the cost of goods, but our CFO has told me it costs about $25,000 per mile,” O’Boyle said. 

These fiber infrastructure projects are paid through a variety of state and federal grants, which make it possible for companies to expand into rural areas. O’Boyle said the process can be a costly one.  

“There are so many people that live 10 miles down the road and they’re the only ones there. It makes it tough for a company to invest in getting that person hooked up, if it wasn’t for government grants and things of that nature to help offset that cost,” he said.  

Despite the uphill battle, which includes the difficulty of digging into Montana’s rocky ground, O’Boyle said that fiber is the future. Maintaining good internet access is going to be imperative for people going forward.

O’Boyle joined the team at InterBel about three years ago. Before that, he worked in mortgage banking for about 14 years. After getting laid-off, he was approached by a friend who worked at the telecommunication company.

As brand ambassador, O’Boyle said he leads with what sets the company apart from others. 

“I think it’s twofold — I think the product that we sell matches with our customer service and that’s the most important thing,” he said. 

For more information about InterBel, visit interbel.com/. 

Reporter Taylor Inman may be reached at 758-4440 or [email protected].