Santa Rosa-based internet provider Sonic’s gigabit fiber service is coming soon to 19 new places in the Bay Area, a significant expansion for a company that has earned a loyal following for its belief in open internet and privacy rights.

Sonic is adding internet service on the Peninsula south of Daly City for the first time, including in Redwood City and San Mateo, and in Petaluma.

Within San Francisco, it is adding gigabit fiber service in Cow Hollow, parts of Pacific Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown and North Beach. Sonic already has a presence in San Francisco.

Dane Jasper, Sonic’s CEO, described the plans as the 25-year-old company’s largest expansion so far.

“It’s a bit like a snowball,” he said. “It gets bigger and faster, and bigger and faster.”

Sonic’s gigabit fiber uses fiber-optic cables — bundles of glass strands that transmit data through pulses of light. Cable TV’s older technology has been a good way to deliver broadband in the past, but it’s an “aging copper infrastructure,” Jasper said, and because it’s metallic, it corrodes. Sonic says its gigabit fiber won’t be affected by factors like weather, distance or power outages, and is far faster than the service most Americans get, according to Jasper.

Google Fiber and Verizon also offer fiber-optic service.

Sonic’s expansion New areas where the company will offer gigabit fiber service: Portions of Cow Hollow, parts of Pacific Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown and North Beach in San Francisco; Burlingame; San Mateo; Hillsborough; South San Francisco; San Carlos; Belmont; San Bruno; Millbrae; Redwood City; North Fair Oaks; Emerald Hills; Petaluma.

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Sonic has more than 100,000 customers and just over 500 employees, Jasper said. The company hopes to add 50,000 more customers over the next two years.

Customers can pre-order gigabit-fiber service now.

In July, Sonic made its gigabit fiber internet service available in the southern San Francisco neighborhoods of Excelsior, Mission Terrace and Crocker Amazon, as well as northern Daly City.

Though Sonic considers itself a midsize regional telecommunications carrier — it’s currently available only in California — it hopes to expand to other parts of the country, Jasper said.

“Fundamentally, internet access in America is broken. People are paying too much and getting too little. When you look at broadband speeds and prices around the globe ... we pay far too much, and that’s an outcome of duopoly.”

Besides the Bay Area, where its competitors include AT&T, Comcast and Wave broadband, Sonic currently offers service in Sacramento and Los Angeles.

Berkeley resident Richard Sternin became a Sonic customer in October 2018 after previously using Comcast. He pre-ordered service as soon as Sonic began installing fiber on his street.

Download speeds are noticeably faster, as is uploading, he said.

“It’s faster either way but it’s startlingly faster for uploading,” Sternin said. That’s especially important for his wife, a filmmaker who often needs to upload large amounts of footage. He also likes that his Sonic service does not have data caps.

The company is offering its gigabit fiber internet service, along with home phone service, starting at $40 per month.

Sophia Kunthara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sophia.kunthara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophiaKunthara