Ziply Fiber plans 50 Gig fiber network for Bayview

Bayview could soon trade aging cable and copper lines for a 100 percent fiber network built to handle far more than basic internet use. Ziply Fiber said the project will reach more than 500 residential and business addresses in the lakeside Kootenai County community and deliver speeds of up to 50 Gig.

The company said construction was slated to begin this summer, with service expected to be ready for installation in late summer or early fall. For Bayview, where broadband quality can shape everything from remote work to how easily businesses serve customers, the project marks a major upgrade in a place that has long relied on infrastructure Ziply says was never designed for today’s demands.

Ziply Fiber CEO Harold Zeitz said the company’s priority is to "connect more communities to the fastest fiber internet available." He described the system as a dedicated fiber connection running from the company’s backbone to homes and businesses, a model that goes well beyond a simple speed boost and instead points to a larger infrastructure investment.

That matters in Bayview, an unincorporated community on the southwest shore of Lake Pend Oreille, about seven miles east-northeast of Athol. The community uses ZIP code 83803 and has a population of about 650, with a median age of 60.7, according to a Census-based demographic summary. In a town that small, a new fiber build can affect daily life in practical ways, from online schooling and telehealth appointments to home-based businesses and seasonal households that depend on reliable service.

The project also fits into the broader economic picture around Lake Pend Oreille, where the Bayview Idaho Chamber of Commerce says the lake has more than 200 miles of shoreline and stretches more than 42 miles from Bayview to Sandpoint. Faster, more dependable service can make small communities more attractive to remote workers and help support future development around the lake, especially in a region where digital access increasingly matters to property values and business growth.

Ziply has positioned 50 Gig as its fastest residential internet plan in the country, and the Bayview build extends that offering into a community that sits outside the larger population centers of North Idaho. Idaho broadband programs are built around economic development, public safety, telehealth and education, making the Bayview project part of a larger push to bring high-capacity internet deeper into places that have lagged behind the region’s bigger markets.