"I know that Holden residents will be thrilled to finally have options when choosing internet providers." Holden Town Manager Peter Lukes said that in March 2025, when Ripple Fiber announced it was coming to town. At the time, Spectrum was the only wired internet provider in Holden.
Eighteen months later, Holden has that option on part of its map. Ripple's Steve Marr told the Select Board on August 17, 2026 that the company had 704 active customers and that the network was 62 percent complete. The same meeting raised a question that is still open. Selectmen pushed Ripple on how much town staff time the buildout uses, took no vote, and asked the town manager to bring a follow-up plan to a future meeting. If crews are marking your street this fall, the remaining third is what you're watching get built. The open question is about Holden's own crews, and it was still unresolved at the end of September.
From groundbreaking to the August count
The timeline is short, and it helps to see it in one place:
- May 6, 2025. Ripple announces construction has started in Holden, as the first phase of a planned $140 million Central Massachusetts network. The general manager of the Holden Municipal Light Department endorsed the project in that announcement.
- September 23, 2025. Ripple announces service is live in Holden. Construction keeps going in parts of Holden and West Boylston. The release puts the planned reach at over 11,000 households in Worcester County, Holden and West Boylston among them.
- August 17, 2026. Ripple reports 704 active customers and 62 percent completion to the Select Board. The meeting was held at the Senior Center at 1130 Main Street.
- Week of September 28, 2026. The town's weekly update still lists Ripple crews installing fiber on residential streets.
The 704 and 62 percent figures are as of August 17. They are Ripple's own numbers, given to the board, and they cover the network as a whole. No public source breaks out a Holden-only count of homes passed, so 704 customers can't be turned into a share of the town.
Where the crews are working this fall
The best street-level record is the town's weekly road update. Here are two recent ones:
| Week of | Streets listed for Ripple fiber installation |
|---|---|
| August 24, 2026 | Highland Street, Walnut Street, Boyden Road, Phillips Road, Flagler Road, Chapel Street, Doyle Road, Cedar Road, Newell Road |
| September 28, 2026 | Winter Hill Road, Crestview Drive, Driftwood Drive, Sherwood Hill Drive, Manning Street, Meadow Wood Drive |
The town says these schedules can change because of weather and other factors.
Fiber is also sharing the road calendar with Holden's own projects. The September 28 update has GEG Construction replacing water mains on Brentwood Drive and Fairchild Drive that week, with access limited to local traffic and utility trenches being paved and restored. Two streets on the August fiber list, Chapel Street and Doyle Road, are also in the town's July 2026 paving bid. That bid has Chapel Street substantially complete by December 1, 2026 and Doyle Road by May 31, 2027. So on those two roads, fiber work came before the new pavement.
What the work looks like at the property line
Ripple describes the same steps on every street. Crews mark existing utilities, dig in the public right-of-way, and come back afterward to restore whatever they disturbed. The work can run along the street or between homes, and Ripple says it can include easements on the side of a property or in the backyard.
Ripple's construction page also describes the installation inside the home. According to that page, the technician will:
- Talk through the fiber route into the house with you and discuss where the Optical Network Terminal, or ONT, will go.
- Check Wi-Fi coverage.
- Seal any holes drilled for the line.
- Leave no loose wires hanging on the outside of the house.
There are two limits to know before you book. Ripple says its hardwiring service doesn't include running new cable inside the home. Its published pages also don't say whether a given Holden home gets an overhead line from the pole or a buried one, and they don't give driveway-specific restoration terms. If you have a paver driveway, an irrigation system, or a recently seeded lawn near the road, ask about the route before the crew arrives.
The staff-time question
This is the part of the story Ripple's announcements don't cover. Every crew that digs in a public road starts with Dig Safe, and the marking requests land partly on Holden's own staff. At the August 17 meeting, DPW Director Nick Schwartz said a town civil engineer was spending 19 to 20 hours a week on the Ripple project. Water and sewer staff were also spending time answering Dig Safe calls. Selectman Ranzoni put the total at "four and a half full-time employees dedicated to this project."
Ranzoni first called it taxpayer money, then corrected himself to say it was "actually ratepayer money." The correction matters if you pay a Holden water and sewer bill. The staff Schwartz described responding to Dig Safe calls are water and sewer staff, and that time goes to a private company's construction.
The board didn't vote on anything that night. The town manager will bring a follow-up plan to a future meeting. As of September 30, the town's online meeting archive showed the August 17 agenda but no posted minutes. The full discussion is on Holden Community Television's recording. The Ripple segment starts at the 10:06 chapter mark and runs until the Town Manager's Update at 35:31.
That follow-up plan is the next real milestone for the buildout. Its outcome could affect how the remaining work is coordinated with town crews, and there's no public date for it yet.
How to check your address and read the price sheet
Ripple says Holden is "Now serving," but no public source maps which streets or addresses are live and which are still under construction. The practical step is to put your address into Ripple's availability checker. That is where the company sends prospective customers.
As of September 30, 2026, Ripple's plans page lists these monthly prices, all with matching upload and download speeds:
- 650 Mbps: $40
- 1 Gig: $55
- 2 Gig: $75
- 5 Gig: $105
- 8 Gig: $135
The page lists free installation on every tier. From 1 Gig up, it adds Wi-Fi 7 and a backup internet service that Ripple values at $20 a month. The entry price is a big change from launch. In September 2025, Worcester Business Journal reported that the 1 Gig plan was $85 a month under a price-for-life promotion. Marr gave the board the $40-for-650-megabits figure in August 2026. The plans page has no date on it and doesn't say it applies only to Holden, so confirm your price when you check your address.
There is also no firm finish date. Ripple's general construction FAQ says most projects take 18 to 24 months. Its Massachusetts page says construction will be completed over "several months." Neither one gives a date for Holden. If your street isn't on a weekly update yet, check the town's posted updates each week. They are the most reliable early notice you'll get.
The same August 17 meeting brought one more piece of town news. The board unanimously approved an ownership change for Sweets and Java to Red Tail Bakers, owned by Julia McSherry and Bill Breidenbach.
If you're selling a Holden home this fall or next spring, whether the house already has a second wired internet option belongs on the listing sheet, and buyers will ask about it. Beech Homes Group checks utility and service details like this for every listing we price. Get a free home valuation and we'll include what your street has today.
