For the fourth consecutive year, Longmont’s NextLight fiber-optic network is among the fastest internet providers in the nation, according to PC Magazine’s newest rankings this morning.

NextLight ranked third in the nation on the annual “Fastest ISPs” list. That’s the fourth time in a row that PC Magazine has placed NextLight in the top four, including a No. 1 finish in 2018 when the magazine declared “Who could beat Google at its own game? NextLight, that’s who.”

“We look forward to these ratings every year, because it gives us a chance to show the country what our community already knows: that Longmont’s homes and businesses have speeds that not only meet their needs but allow them to excel,” NextLight executive director Valerie Dodd said. “We’re proud that in a time when the online world became more important than ever, our residents could continue to work, learn, relax and reach out to each other through the NextLight connections that they own and love.”

Since its beginnings in 2014, the community-owned network has continued to grow and now serves over 23,400 customers. In 2020, NextLight began offering discounts for income-qualified customers and households impacted by COVID-19, and also expanded its Sharing the NextLight program, which is now open to pre-K-12 students who are on a free or reduced lunch plan or part of a Head Start program, and to Pell Grant-supported college students. (More details about the program can be found at MyNextlight.com.

NextLight also increased its basic residential speed level from 25 megabits per second to 100 megabits in 2020. About 90% of its residential customers are connected to the service’s signature gigabit speed.

The top rating on the list this year went to Empire Access, a small provider in upstate New York, and smaller ISPs dominated the overall top 10, including municipal networks such as NextLight, EPB of Chattanooga, Tenn. and last year’s winner, Cedar Falls Utilities.

“(W)e always recommend that you consider smaller ISPs, if you have the option – in particular, those doing fiber-optic installs,” PC Mag wrote.