New High Speed Internet Providers Are Moving Into Central Jersey
Woodbridge and Rahway have approved agreements allowing fiber providers to install equipment in their public streets. Edison is expected to follow this month.
(Illustration by Elizabeth Virginia Perry)
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Chris Howell | June 15, 2026
Woodbridge and Rahway are welcoming new fiber internet providers, opening the door to competition with the cable companies that have long dominated local broadband. Edison is expected to follow as soon as this month.
Woodbridge moved first. On May 19, the Municipal Council gave final approval to a local law governing how fiber and wireless providers can deploy infrastructure in the township’s public streets. The local law creates a permitting system open to all providers, meaning no single company can lock others out.
The company named in the agreement is GoNetspeed, headquartered in Rochester, New York. The agreement identifies GoNetspeed as the first approved provider, with a 15-year term and options to renew for up to four successive five-year periods. The company already lists Woodbridge on its service page, with coverage available at some addresses.
The next month, Rahway’s City Council approved a similar agreement with GoNetspeed. In both cases, the agreement covers internet service only, not cable television or phone service. Officials say the goal is to increase competition.
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“Bringing an additional high-speed internet option to Rahway gives residents and businesses more choice and greater flexibility when selecting a provider that best meets their needs,” Mayor Raymond Giacobbe said in a statement.
Edison is expected to follow. The council postponed a local law at its June 10 meeting that would authorize a street-access agreement with Pilot Fiber NJ LLC, a New York-based company authorized to operate in New Jersey last summer, to provide high-speed internet service. The measure is expected to be on the agenda for the June 24 council meeting, Council President Joseph Coyle said. If approved, the local law would grant a 50-year term open to all providers, significantly longer than the arrangements in Woodbridge and Rahway.
The agreements are part of a push to provide more broadband options across Central Jersey.
GoNetspeed announced a privately funded $110 million buildout targeting communities in Middlesex and Atlantic counties last year. Construction is now underway in both South River and East Brunswick as part of a $13.6 million regional investment that covers more than 10,500 homes and businesses. The company expects to connect its first customers in both communities by fall 2026.
For decades, telecom infrastructure in New Jersey municipalities has operated under an exclusive contract system. A township grants a company rights to use public streets and utility poles in exchange for a percentage of revenue and service commitments. That company is usually Comcast or Optimum, and competing providers have had to negotiate separately or sue for access. By limiting their agreements to internet-only service, GoNetspeed and Pilot Fiber are operating outside that system.
Optimum has been expanding in the region as well. In December 2025, the company announced a $40 million fiber network expansion into Woodbridge, Clark, and Linden, with service also planned for Rahway and Roselle.
None of these approvals means an immediate change for residents. According to BroadbandNow, fiber internet is currently available to just 0.2% of Woodbridge addresses, while cable reaches 99.5%. Providers still have to build out their networks block by block, and in Rahway and Edison, infrastructure has not yet been deployed.
Residents can track GoNetspeed’s availability at gonetspeed.com and Pilot Fiber’s New Jersey coverage at pilotfiber.com.
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.