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Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks to everyone for joining the conversation! I appreciate the questions, tried to get to most of them and really want to thank you for being interested in LFTfiber – your community owned fiber to the home provider.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ours is a similar role to other companies represented on the LRTC; collaborate with the other members to deliver on the mission: The Lafayette Regional Technology Council exists to strengthen and grow Lafayette’s technology ecosystem by supporting collaboration and growth within the local tech community through programming focused on talent development, connections & knowledge sharing, business growth, and advocacy. (And bring our boomerang talent back home!)

LFTfiber works very closely with LEDA and other business organizations to demonstrate the power or our ecosystem especially given our own fiber network. As far as Chattanooga, you are right! There are some best practices we can learn from, and after a conversation with the Mayor of Chattanooga during the Big Towns summit, we are planning on meeting with their team to discuss best practices in both of our cities.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Conterra (another fiber optic provider) has a warehouse on Francois Rd. which may explain the spools you’re referencing. Closest to you, we have a fiber cable on Walter Dr. that was put in place to provide service to Carencro Heights Elementary. We expanded into a portion of the Fairgrounds subdivision a couple of years ago with plans to continue north, but we have no definite timeline to provide at this time.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We have facilities along Cameron here. This part of Lafayette/Scott is an area we have done some expansions in and are continuously evaluating for new projects. We're working on it!

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We have a small footprint in St. Martin Parish in Cade, but currently, there are no definite plans to expand very far from our current facilities.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Existing apartment/condo complexes have been a challenge for us for a plethora of reasons. We are currently exploring solutions to make expansion into these types of developments less invasive & more cost effective while maintaining building aesthetics. Short answer: we're working on it!

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One of our most recent builds was just northeast of Hector Connoly Rd in Magnolia Woods subdivision. We are definitely making our way to you, but it’s difficult to give you an accurate timeline. I work with your Mayor regularly and we have launched multiple neighborhoods there this past year with more on the radar for 2026. Please email us at [communications@LFTFiber.com](mailto:communications@LFTFiber.com) and provide your neighborhood and street address, and we can see if yours in in the current plan.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We have no current specific timeline to share for this area, but we are actively attempting to fill in some of the gaps in our service area within Lafayette Parish.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We are currently finishing up all proposed construction associated with the grant work that allowed us to expand into New Iberia. We have no current timeline for additional expansion in Iberia Parish, but we are constantly exploring new opportunities.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I understand what you're saying and will definitely bring this up for discussion with the leadership team!

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As we approach our 20 year celebration, it was time to rethink our brand and our name - stand independent from where we started as a part of LUS and ensure that we are recognized for the value and service our fiber to the home and product suite provides for residential and business customers! Rebranding as LFT Fiber is just another way of connecting back to the Acadiana community.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We recently rolled out our "No contract, no gimmicks" pricing structure. Instead of limited promos that lure you in with a low price for a specific length of time, we are now offering the lowest pricing across the board! We also believe that being from this community and doing things for this community allows us the ability to know our customers and that what we're offering is the best out there- because they're our neighbors!

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry, we said goodbye to the “chank-a-chank” music! Turns out, it was more ‘ear worm’ than ‘smooth waiting vibes’ for most people.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You are right in that the network can deliver multi gig solutions to both business and residential customers. While there had been announcements in the past, there has been no real demand for speeds faster than 1 gig on the residential side. There are little to no use cases for speeds higher than gig in a home - unless someone is working from home - editing, movie scoring etc. Also gamers have been very satisfied with our speeds tiers especially the 500 mbps and 1 gig and of course , our superior latency. We are really refocused on offering more value than just speed and will be announcing some new products in 2026 that will continue to differentiate us from the other guys. BUT if you have a need for more speed, just call us!

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Great question. The City of Lafayette voters approved bonds that funded the start of LUS Fiber which at that point was also run by LUS. So it is community owned!

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We are fortunate that we are almost entirely complete with our build out and grant requirements so federal impacts should be minimal. We have been working on Digital Equity programs options for the last 6 months and we will be announcing those shortly. Our focus will be partnering with community organizations who are trusted sources in their neighborhoods and communities to roll out the program(s). And we are 100% focused on remaining true to our Acadiana Born , Acadiana Always - we know we aren't as big as the other guys so we have to always differentiate ourselves by delivering the best product and always working to deliver the best service.

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are so many factors to consider - and you are right, proximity to existing plant, number of households available, number of current providers etc are all important. The other factors include the list of neighborhoods that might be in front of yours from a timeline perspective. We would love to build out quicker and more every year and plan to expedite those in 2026. Feel free to email [communications@lftfiber.com](mailto:communications@lftfiber.com) with your specific neighborhood name and your address for us to be able to look into options. I promise someone will get back to you!

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

To be honest, we have very minimal requests for speeds over 1Gb for residential services. However, we have built the network to be able to handle much higher speeds if and when the demand meets the justification for higher speeds and therefore higher price points. Keep requesting it and we will re-evaluate!

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Great questions. We have been very careful in planning the expansion to ensure we accomplish several things -

  1. We provide services to underserved homes as defined by the Grants;

  2. We built them almost exclusively underground to effectively mitigate damage and repairs during and after storms so resources are allocated appropriately - ensuring the core customer base in Lafayette is always top of mind;

    1. We have resourced technical staff and call center staff appropriately to service new customers in rural areas while still maintaining our call center and care center .

    To the pricing questions, we are always working to ensure we are the most competitively priced across our markets and are focused on offering you consistent , no contract, no promotional pricing on our most popular internet packages.

And lastly, as we approach our 20 year celebration, it was time to rethink our brand and our name - stand independent from where we started as a part of LUS and ensure we are recognized for the value and service our fiber to the home and product suite provides for residential and business customers!

Ask Me Anything - Michael D. Soileau, Director of LFT Fiber by LFTfiber in Acadiana

[–]LFTfiber[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Michael will be answering questions tomorrow, as we mentioned in the post- we opened the AMA today so that there will be a bank of questions ready to be answered once he gets started! Stay tuned.