General

Broadband Bytes, November 2025 Issue 2

BROADBAND NEWS:1. NTIA Announces Streamlining of Tribal Broadband Funding. NTIA will unveil a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support Tribal broadband access in the spring.  The goal of the new NOFO will be to reduce red tape for Tribal governments, promote flexibility, and align the NTIA’s grant opportunities to better serve Tribal connectivity, according to NTIA. An estimated $500 million in remaining Tribal broadband funding is also expected to be made available in the spring. Read more.2. State, Local Chambers Push FCC to Approve $34.5B Charter-Cox Merger. In letters to the FCC publicized, state and local chambers argued that the deal would not harm competition due to minimal overlap between Charter and Cox territories – less than 0.1 percent, according to some filings.  Supporters say the deal could expand broadband investment, onshore customer service jobs, and improve employee wages. Read more.3. Project Kuiper Rebrands to Amazon Leo. Seven-year-old Project Kuiper, Amazon’s foray into the low-earth orbit (LEO) sector, has changed its name to Amazon Leo. Amazon also provided an update on the progress the company says it has made so far. It claims to have one of the largest satellite production lines, an advanced customer terminal and the first commercial phased array antenna that supports gigabit speeds. The company says that it has more than 150 satellites in orbit and an array of partners. The dominant player in the LEO sector is Starlink, which in June, had 6,750 satellites in orbit. Read more.4. NTIA Announces Approval of 18 BEAD Final Proposals. NTIA announces the approval of 18 Eligible Entities’ Final Proposals to deliver universal broadband access through the BEAD program. The States and Territories approved by NTIA include Louisiana, Wyoming, Iowa, American Samoa, Georgia, Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Maine, New Hampshire, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Connecticut, South Carolina, North Dakota, Hawaii, Montana, Rhode Island, and Virginia. And, one state, Louisiana, has signed its award amendment, allowing the state to access BEAD funds to begin delivering broadband to its constituents.  More information on Final Proposals will be made available here. Read more from Telecompetitor. Read more from NTIA.5. NTIA Approves Texas’ BEAD Final Proposal. Texas’ Benefit of the Bargain funding round saved $2 billion compared to allocations by the Biden administration, according to NTIA.  The original funding had been $3.31 billion, but was finalized at $1.26 billion.  More than half of BEAD locations that received funding in Texas will get fiber. The breakdown for all 242,903 funded locations is Fiber: 50.6%, Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite: 27.1%, Fixed wireless: 22.3%. Read more.6. Broadband Expansion Could Be Hindered by Workforce. The BEAD program faces potential delays as the telecom industry confronts a projected shortage of skilled workers needed to build infrastructure.  A report from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ broadband access initiative describes the anticipated increase in demand for skilled broadband workers and examines the barriers to expanding that workforce. Industry groups, including the Fiber Broadband Association and the Power and Communications Contractor Association, suggest that by 2032, the sector will require at least 58,000 new workers—including 28,000 construction jobs and 30,000 technician positions—to handle the demand created by BEAD and other federal broadband programs. Read more.7. Great Plains Communications Announces Connectivity to Data Center in Simpsonville, Kentucky. Great Plains Communications (GPC) announced that its GPC Fiber division has partnered with Aphorio Carter to bring fiber connectivity into Aphorio Carter’s colocation and data-center facility in Simpsonville, Kentucky. Through this partnership, the Simpsonville facility will now feature direct access to GPC Fiber’s 19,000-mile network with local, regional, and national reach. Read more.FUNDING AWARDS, FIBER EXPANSIONS1. Tillman Fiber Invests $60M in Fiber Network in Hernando County, Florida. Tillman Fiber announced a $60 million investment to build a next-generation, open-access fiber network throughout Hernando County, Florida. Once complete, the network will enable residents to choose from multiple internet service providers operating on Tillman’s open-access platform. Read more.2. FOCUS Broadband Now Available in North Carolina’s Chowan and Perquimans Counties. FOCUS Broadband has announced that high-speed fiber internet service is now available to more than 7,000 addresses in Chowan and Perquimans counties, with additional addresses coming soon. Once these final phases are finished, FOCUS Broadband will serve more than 8,000 addresses across Chowan and Perquimans counties. Read more.3. Ripple Fiber powers into Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Ripple Fiber is launching high-speed fiber internet service to its first residents in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Representing the provider’s initial project in the state, the first 5,000 households are anticipated to have live service over the next few months. Ripple Fiber will continue to pursue expansion opportunities throughout Illinois. Earlier this year, Ripple Fiber broke ground in Elk Grove Village, beginning the buildout of its initial $104 million project. Residents in nearby areas of Naperville, Streamwood, Joliet, and Aurora can expect planned construction activity across multiple neighborhoods in 2026. Read more.4. Ritter Communications will extend fiber from Little Rock to Tulsa. As part of a 20-year contract award with a hyperscaler, Ritter Communications will be expanding their long-haul fiber network to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ritter announced the connection to Tulsa will extend from Little Rock, located several hundred miles east. The provider also said the network will provide services to new and existing markets along the route. Meanwhile, Oklahoma will become the seventh state Ritter Communications has expanded to. Read more.5. Midco Finalizes SCI Acquisition. Midco finalized the acquisition of Savage Communications Inc. (SCI) Broadband, a purchase that expands Midco’s Minnesota network and prepares the company for continued fiber expansion in the state.  SCI Broadband was founded in 1984 by Ron Savage and grew to serve nearly 12,000 data customers in central Minnesota. By the end of this year, the network built by SCI will reach nearly 28,000 passings. Read more.6. Ara Partners Takes Majority Control of Centric Fiber. Ara Partners has taken a majority controlling stake in Centric Fiber, a bulk fiber-to-the-home provider focused on Texas, Florida, and Arizona. Ara describes itself as a global private equity and infrastructure investment firm. It was founded in 2017 and has offices in Houston, Boston, Washington D.C., and Dublin, Ireland. Centric Fiber is headquartered in Houston. It provides fiber broadband to large single-family master planned communities. Read more.7. Flume to Partner with Gigapower for Arizona MDU’s. Gigapower, the open-access network operator owned by AT&T and BlackRock, said that it has reached an agreement with Flume to use the network in Mesa, Arizona. Flume is a service provider focused on multi-dwelling units that relies primarily on other providers’ networks for connectivity. Read more.   Broadband Bytes is a weekly collection of broadband news highlights from leading industry resourcescompiled by David Levine, RCDD. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois Universityand a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions. 

Dec 24, 2025

General

Broadband Bytes, November 2025 Issue 1

BROADBAND NEWS:1. Senate Bill Would Strengthen USDA ReConnect Rural Broadband Program. A bill introduced in the Senate late last week aims to strengthen the ReConnect rural broadband program administered by the USDA. The ReConnect program provides grants and loans to cover some of the costs of deploying broadband in rural areas where high-speed broadband isn’t available. The program has been included in Farm Bills, which are typically passed every five years. But ReConnect is not an authorized program in the Farm Bill yet. That means Congress must vote every year to make funding available for the program.  The Senate bill would make ReConnect an authorized program. Read more.2. NTIA admin hints at use for non-deployment BEAD funds. Non-deployment funds associated with the BEAD program have been a hot topic of discussion in recent months, with several varying uses for the money having been proposed. While no concrete decision has been made regarding the future of the money, NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth did hint at a potential use for the funds. She said the NTIA is considering potential uses for the funds, which will likely exceed $20 billion. According to Roth, NTIA is considering how non-deployment funds could be used to advance “key outcomes like permitting reform.” Read more.3. Missed by BEAD. An article from the Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute at the New York Law School claims that over 1M locations were missed by the BEAD grants. They identified these as locations that are still shown as unserved and underserved on the FCC broadband maps, but which did not make it into the BEAD program. ACLP also identified two other sources of locations that will likely not get broadband. They predict some BEAD defaults since several small and untested ISPs won sizable BEAD grants. They also believe there will continue to be defaults in other grant programs. Read more.4. Feds push to ban TP-Link from US market over China ties. The U.S. Commerce Department, alongside the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense, has proposed banning future sales of TP-Link Systems’ devices, a company whose routers reportedly comprise more than a third of the American home router market. The proposal reflects deepening anxieties about the potential for Chinese influence over technology critical to the nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure. TP-Link currently controls about 65% of the U.S. home networking market. As such, the potential ban on TP-Link devices would represent one of the largest consumer technology prohibitions in recent U.S. history. Read more.5. North Carolina Creates $50M Program to Help BSPs Recover From Hurricane Helene. NC broadband service providers (BSPs) impacted by Hurricane Helene have until 11:59 PM on November 24 to apply for a recovery grant from a $50 million program established by the state. The office of the governor says that impacted BSPs can apply for the Broadband Recovery Program through the NCDIT Broadband Infrastructure Office Data Exchange. The program for BSPs was created by legislation signed into law by NC Governor Josh Stein. It covers infrastructure projects in 39 disaster-designated counties & the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The program prioritizes funding for service restoration. Read more.6. Altice USA Rebrands as Optimum Communications. Altice USA announced it will rebrand as Optimum Communications, Inc., marking its identity as a broadband provider. For years, the parent company operated under the Altice USA name while marketing its services as Optimum, creating a disconnect between corporate and consumer identities. Read more.7. Communications Provider Revenue $5.6T in 2030: Omdia. Global communications provider revenues will reach $5.6 trillion with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2%, according to Omdia. The study, which tracks both revenues and capital expenditures (capex), points to innovation, infrastructure expansion, and strategic investments in 6G and artificial intelligence (AI) as drivers of the growth. Read more.8. Blueprint Broadband Introduces New Development Model. Blueprint Broadband unveiled a new model for residential and commercial developers to bring fiber to their communities. Blueprint integrates fiber into the development plan from the start, structuring it as a joint venture to provide developers with control and financial participation in the networks installed on their projects. “Every new community needs fiber, but developers shouldn’t have to give the value away,” Scott Sampson, CEO of Blueprint Broadband, said in a statement about the company’s model. “Blueprint builds it, we operate it, we support it — but the developer owns it with us. That changes the economics, the experience, and the future of every project we touch.” Read more.9. NTIA unveils yet another new requirement for BEAD money. NTIA says BEAD providers must agree not to take additional federal subsidies. The agency clarified this rule won’t apply to providers that already receive support for non-BEAD areas. But it still gives ISPs fewer options to fund costly rural builds. NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth indicated BEAD participants would have to forego other federal funding or else lose out on their money. Providers must certify to the NTIA in writing that they will not require or take additional federal subsidies – including operational subsidies – to complete or operate their BEAD projects. Prime examples of operational broadband subsidies include the Universal Service Fund (USF) and the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) program. The latter provides roughly $18.5 billion in support to a total of 368 operators.  The reason behind the new NTIA requirement, according to NTIA, is to reduce the chance of providers backing out of BEAD. Read more.10. Why BEAD to Kuiper?  States made sizeable provisional BEAD grant awards to Kuiper, although the company isn’t close to having its first broadband customer. As of November 12, 2025, Kuiper has 153 working satellites in orbit. It has scheduled launches of an additional 72 satellites before the end of the year. It’s worth noting that previous planned launches have all been seriously delayed. You might think we should have learned a lesson from when Starlink was a big winner in the RDOF reverse auction. The FCC eventually killed those awards after it determined that Starlink was not ready to fulfill a major commitment to serve large numbers of locations in specific geographies. Read more.FUNDING AWARDS, FIBER EXPANSIONS1. FiberLight Announces $150M Investment in West Texas Network. Fiber provider FiberLight says that it is building approximately 1,000 fiber miles in West Texas and making a $150 million investment in its network there. The investment includes upgrading a portion of the network to accommodate large-scale data centers and the middle-mile network. This will support regional and local carriers and public institutions, according to the company. Read more.2. RightFiber Expands Network to Arkadelphia, Arkansas. RightFiber, a brand of Ritter Communications, is expanding its fiber internet to homes in Arkadelphia. Construction on this expansion is underway and expected to be completed in early 2026. Read more.3. Greenlight Networks to Acquire FastBridge Fiber. Fiber provider Greenlight Networks is expanding its presence in Pennsylvania by acquiring FastBridge Fiber.  Greenlight Networks also has operations in New York and Maryland. Oak Hill Capital is the majority investor in Greenlight Networks. FastBridge Fiber has been is majority-owned by a subset of Guggenheim Investments clients. Following the closing of this transaction, Guggenheim Investments will take an ownership stake in Greenlight Networks and, in conjunction with Oak Hill Capital, will further strengthen the company’s growth and expansion initiatives. Read more.4. Oklahoma Capital Projects Fund 2.0 Seeks to Bring Broadband to 766 Locations. The Oklahoma Broadband Office has opened funding for the Capital Projects Fund 2.0, which will aim to serve 766 locations that remain unserved. The program is part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Last May, more than $53 million in middle-mile broadband expansion grants were recommended for approval by the Oklahoma Broadband Governing Board. Read more.5. Vero Fiber and Telephone Electronics Corporation Announce Merger. Fiber internet provider Vero Fiber is proceeding with its acquisition of small providers across the country. They announced a planned merger with Telephone Electronics Corporation (TEC), which offers fiber internet service in MS, AL, and TN. Vero Fiber got its start in Colorado in 2017 by providing broadband to schools, but has been providing business and residential internet service since 2001. Read more.6. Brightspeed Completes Construction on 13 Kansas Community Networks. Brightspeed has announced the completion of its fiber network in 13 Kansas communities. Now, nearly 29,000 families and businesses in Baldwin, Benedict, Ellinwood, Garnett, Garness, Hillsboro, Holton, Horton, Huntington, Junction City, Osage City, Osawatomie, and Sterling have access to reliable internet, powering everything from remote work and online learning to telehealth and local business growth. Read more.7. New contracts lift Crown Fiber Optics to $100 million milestone. Long-term awards in NM and WA add to the growth of Crown Fiber Optics, which announced it has over $100 million in fiber infrastructure contracts within their contract and backlog portfolio. Crown Fiber Optics said the company’s newly awarded contracts are worth roughly $80M in annual revenue potential.  Crown Fiber is a division of Crown Electrokinetics Corp.  The company specializes in fiber network design and construction and provides end-to-end fiber network deployment service. Read more.8. Wire 3 expansion to Clermont and Minneola in Lake County, FL. Wire 3, a Florida-based fiber internet provider, announced plans to expand their network in Lake County, FL, to include Clermont and Minneola, increasing the company’s private investment in the county to $150 million.  The announcement comes after the carrier previously outlined plans to build fiber in Eustis, Leesburg, Mount Dora, and Tavares. Read more.9. IdeaTek moves fiber expansions forward in Goodland, Emporia, KS. IdeaTek, an internet provider based in Buhler, Kansas, has announced a $3 million project to build a 100% fiber network in Goodland, KS that will serve about 2,200 homes and businesses.  The announcement occurs parallel to a Nov. 12 ribbon cutting in Emporia, Kansas, where IdeaTek is celebrating their $14 million internet expansion effort, which will connect over 10,000 locations. Read more.10. BEAD Provisional Awards As of 10-21-25   Broadband Bytes is a weekly collection of broadband news highlights from leading industry resourcescompiled by David Levine, RCDD. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois Universityand a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions. 

Dec 24, 2025

Products

UCL Swift FORJ Selected as Korea’s 2025 “Excellent SME Product”

 UCL Swift’s fiber optic rotary joint (FORJ), a core component for rotating defense and communication systems, has been named one of Korea’s “Excellent SME Products of the Year 2025 (올해의 으뜸중기제품)” in the national program hosted by Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS, 중소벤처기업부). This recognition reflects the outstanding quality and competitiveness of UCL Swift’s FORJ solution. UCL Swift completed the independent development of FORJ in October 2024, successfully localizing a component that had previously been entirely imported for Korea’s major weapon systems. FORJ is a fiber optic rotary joint that enables high-capacity data transmission through optical fiber between stationary and continuously rotating sections, minimizing mechanical constraints, signal loss, and distortion. It is a critical component in systems where fixed cabling cannot be used, such as radar, aviation and satellite payloads, naval and marine platforms, medical imaging equipment, industrial automation, and aerospace systems.In the defense sector, FORJ technology is treated as a strategic capability closely tied to national security, and Korea has historically relied on fully imported units, often facing long lead times and procurement difficulties. By localizing this component for the first time in Korea, UCL Swift helps defense and industrial customers reduce cost, lead time, and supply-chain risk while securing independent access to key optical interconnect technology.Technically, UCL Swift’s FORJ supports both single-mode and multimode fibers in single- and multi-channel configurations with low insertion loss and high return loss. It is rated for rotational speeds up to 2,000 rpm and more than 200 million rotation cycles, and meets U.S. military standards for vibration and shock (MIL-STD-167-1A and MIL-STD-810H), making it a robust optical interconnect solution for next-generation radar, surveillance, and precision control platforms. These capabilities have already been recognized by major Korean defense and technology media, and UCL Swift plans to extend FORJ adoption from defense platforms into marine, industrial, and aerospace applications, further strengthening Korea’s export competitiveness in high-value optical components.  뉴스 & 언론보도25.02.10  ZDNet KOREA 유씨엘스위프트, 전략품목 ‘광섬유로터리조인트’ 국내 첫 국산화 > 25.04.10  국방일보 방산리포트[방산 리포트] 전량 해외 의존 레이다·항공 무기체계 장치, 독자개발 성공 > 25.06.12  한국경제신문대용량 레이더 데이터도 안정적 전송 > 25.12.10  한국경제신문'혁신 또 혁신' 으뜸중기 16곳 한자리에…"이젠 해외 공략" >  유씨엘스위프트의 광섬유 로터리조인트(FORJ)는 국내에서 처음으로 국산화에 성공한 전략 부품으로, 2025년 「올해의 으뜸중기제품」(중소벤처기업부 주관)에 선정되었습니다.FORJ는 고정부와 회전부 사이에서 광섬유를 통해 대용량 데이터를 손실 없이 전달하는 장치로, 레이더·항공·위성·해양·의료·산업·항공우주 등 고정 케이블을 사용할 수 없는 회전 시스템에 필수적인 광부품입니다. 유씨엘스위프트는 3년여의 연구개발 끝에 2024년 10월 독자 개발을 완료하며, 전량 수입에 의존해 오던 무기체계 핵심 부품의 국산화에 성공했습니다.단일·다중모드 광섬유와 단·다채널 구성을 지원하며, 낮은 삽입손실과 높은 반사손실 특성을 갖추고 최대 2,000rpm, 2억 회 이상의 회전 내구성을 확보했으며, 미 국방규격 진동(MIL-STD-167-1A)·충격(MIL-STD-810H) 기준을 모두 충족합니다.이를 통해 해외 제품 의존으로 인한 높은 비용, 긴 납기, 제한적인 기술 지원 문제를 해소하고, 국방 분야를 넘어 민수 및 수출 시장까지 적용 범위를 넓혀 갈 계획입니다.

Dec 11, 2025

General

Broadband Bytes, October 2025 Issue 1

BROADBAND NEWS:1. BEAD Benefit of the Bargain Provisional Awards. Updated, Comprehensive List. Read more.2. NTIA BEAD Work to Continue During the Shutdown. BEAD and other programs at NTIA are not subject to the government shutdown. NTIA is continuing work on BEAD, the Middle Mile program, the Tribal Broadband Connectivity program, the Broadband Infrastructure Program, and the Connecting Minority Communities program. Overall, NTIA was able to keep 463 of its 600 employees, largely because their work isn’t tied to annual appropriations. Read more.3. Datacenter Segment Worth $321B by 2030. MarketsandMarkets says that the worldwide data center industry segment will be worth $320.89 billion by 2030 as artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies increase the need to handle more data in differentiated ways.  The increase will be stark: The segment will be worth $115.94 billion this year and will enjoy a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.6% during the term studied by MarketsandMarkets. Read more.4. Anchor institutions face a funding crisis that threatens connectivity for vulnerable communities. Schools, libraries, and healthcare facilities are struggling to maintain connectivity amid federal funding cuts and policy changes that threaten their ability to serve vulnerable communities. Read more.5. Fiber continues to dominate BEAD deployments. With BEAD proposals now largely submitted, representing $18 billion of the $41.6 billion appropriated for their use by Congress, fiber has still emerged as the technology of choice for over 2.2 million (at least 64%) of broadband serviceable locations (BSLs). Two Low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite providers snagged at least 770,000 BSLs (22%), terrestrial wireless collected 340,000 BSLs (almost 10%), and hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) picked up 35,000 BSLs (1%). Read more.6. 8M Americans Still Offline: Connectivity Report. Reviews.org, working from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) one-year estimates, found that almost eight million households in the US lack connectivity and are not yet online. The analysts found that the number of offline Americans declined from 10.2 million in 2023 to 7.9 million in 2024, a drop of almost 20%. Read more.7. Broadband Providers Invested $89.6B Last Year: Capex Report. America’s broadband providers are investing at a high rate, according to USTelecom – The Broadband Association’s 2024 Broadband Capex Report. The Association says providers invested $89.6 billion last year, which it called a “near-record.” Since 1996, broadband providers have invested $2.2 trillion. Read more.8. Verizon Partners with Tillman’s Eaton Fiber to Reach New Markets. Verizon announced that it will extend its Fios service into new markets through a commercial fiber agreement with Eaton Fiber, an affiliate of global infrastructure investor Tillman Holdings. The companies did not disclose build plans, locations, or timelines, but said the partnership would complement Verizon’s ongoing fiber builds and planned acquisition of Frontier. Under the agreement, Eaton Fiber, described as a wholesale, open-access fiber provider, will fund, build, and maintain the network. Verizon will be the exclusive retail provider of residential broadband services through the build phase and for an unspecified amount of time afterwards. Read more.9. Broadband Editorial: Where is Congress? Politics in DC is a mess right now. But the sudden indifference to broadband is a huge shift from the recent past. Broadband has always been one of the few topics that has had bipartisan support from rural legislators, because they all knew that this was important to their constituents. Over the last five or ten years, (many) County governments have said that the lack of good broadband was the number one issue for their constituents. That message has always carried upward to federal legislators, particularly in the House of Representatives. Read more.FUNDING AWARDS, FIBER EXPANSIONS1. unWired embarks on $10m fiber upgrade in Wasco, California. unWired Broadband last month inaugurated their NextGen Fiber network in Wasco, Calif., marking the start of a planned $10 million upgrade to the city’s internet infrastructure.  Wasco is located in California’s San Joaquin Valley.  The company expects the buildout to finish by February 2026. Read more.2. Bluepeak has announced upgraded connection speeds for more than 25,000 customers in South Dakota and Minnesota. Internet provider Bluepeak announced that it has upgraded connection speeds for more than 25,000 customers in South Dakota and Minnesota as part of a multi-year effort to expand and modernize its regional fiber network.  The rollout follows Bluepeak’s broader expansion across several states, including Oklahoma, Wyoming, North Dakota and Texas. Read more.3. Astound Broadband Completes Fiber Network in Newport, Oregon. Astound Broadband announced that is has completed construction of Newport’s first fiber optic network, bringing the service to more than 5,000 homes, along with 900 business and commercial locations.  Astound invested $4.6 million to complete approximately 55 miles of new fiber infrastructure throughout Newport. Read more.4. Indiana Connectivity Program Awards Almost $655K in Broadband Grants. The Indiana Connectivity Program has awarded $654,676 in the 15th round of broadband grants. The awards will support 149 homes and seven businesses. Broadband service providers in Indiana are matching the grants in the amount of $1,116,469, which brings the total investment to $1,771,145. Projects must be completed within nine months of the contract date. The program has allocated more than $14 million and helped to provide service to 3,000 homes, businesses and anchor institutions across IN. Read more.5. Altice’s Optimum Partners with Tyler, Texas for Infrastructure Upgrades. Altice, which offers broadband and video service under the Optimum brand, will invest $4.4 million to upgrade Tyler, Texas’ emergency and government infrastructure with a fiber network. The money is being used construction of 40 miles of strategically designed fiber routes. Read more.6. VT program to provide broadband for low-income households. The Vermont Community Broadband Board has allocated nearly $8M from ARPA funding to the Affordable Long Drop program, which aims to connect about 2,000 low-income households in remote areas to high-speed broadband. The funding will offset the extra costs for homes located far from main roads, with the largest grants going to EC Fiber and NEK Broadband. EC Fiber is getting $3M, which will help connect about 750 homes, while NEK will receive a little over $2M for more than 400 properties. Read more.7. Lyte Fiber named as preliminary recipient of BEAD funds in Texas. Lyte Fiber has been preliminarily selected for $142 million in Texas BEAD funding to expand high-speed internet access across seven counties.  The Houston-based internet service provider said they’ve been preliminarily selected for the program’s third largest award in Texas. Money for the award involves BEAD funds and $23 million from the Texas Match Assistance Program (TMAP). Read more.8. IQ Fiber launches fiber internet in Charleston, South Carolina. IQ Fiber, a Jacksonville, Florida-based provider of 100% fiber-optic internet service, has launched its all-fiber network in Charleston, South Carolina, including the communities of West Ashley and the Town of Mt. Pleasant. IQ Fiber’s network now spans more than 2,700 route miles and serves customers in Jacksonville and Gainesville, Florida, as well as Savannah, Georgia. Construction is also underway in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County, Florida. The company also operates in the Chesapeake Bay Region of Maryland through its subsidiary ThinkBig Networks. Read more.9. Ezee Fiber Begins Construction on Santa Fe, New Mexico Network. In partnership with the City of Santa Fe, Ezee Fiber announces plans to begin construction in the public right of way to expand the availability of high-speed internet services. The construction will begin in late October to early November. Ezee Fiber’s infrastructure upgrades will make its high-speed internet services available to nearly 5,000 Santa Fe homes in this first phase. Read more.   Broadband Bytes is a weekly collection of broadband news highlights from leading industry resourcescompiled by David Levine, RCDD. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois Universityand a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions. 

Nov 12, 2025

Products

UCL Swift North America’s Fiber Optic Connectors Made in Texas

Carrollton, Texas — October 6, 2025 — UCL Swift’s strategy for growth in the U.S. takes another step forward as it launches its line of domestically manufactured fiber optic fusion splice-on connectors. Utilizing the manufacturing capabilities of its co-located division, UCL Connections, UCL Swift North America can now produce its high-quality fusion splice-on connectors at its facility in Carrollton, Texas.Currently, LC and SC connector models with either OM4 multimode or OS2 single-mode fiber are manufactured at UCL Connections. UCL Swift intends to expand its domestically made product offering in the very near future. Brad Everette, General Manager for UCL Swift North America, said, “This project has been several years in the making. The increase in demand for U.S.-made products is timely, and we are very excited about assisting our customers with that need. Our domestic manufacturing division, UCL Connections, has years of experience producing U.S.-made copper and fiber optic cable assemblies. UCL Swift expects to manufacture more fiber optic fusion splice-on connectors domestically in the future.” Alex Ybarra, QA Manager for UCL Connections, added, “We have worked with our local Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Department of Agriculture to ensure compliance with manufacturing requirements. UCL Connections’ ISO processes are utilized to provide certificates of origin for customers requiring documentation related to projects.” Certification of U.S. manufacture is available for these products.About UCL SwiftFounded in 1982 as a high-precision tool manufacturer, UCL Swift launched the first optical fiber termination products in 1999 to meet customers’ needs for reliable and productive solutions. Since then, UCL Swift North America has developed and introduced innovative and dependable products for processing and splicing optical fibers. For more information, visit www.uclswiftna.com. 

Nov 12, 2025

General

Broadband Bytes, September 2025 Issue 2

BROADBAND NEWS:1. Going, Going, Gone? On September 5, NTIA issued a press release about the progress of the Benefit of the Bargain round for States to award BEAD funding…”states are already projecting savings of at least $13 billion for American taxpayers.” The $13 million referenced by NTIA is the difference between the funding allocated to each state for BEAD and the amount being awarded to BEAD grants. According to the IIJA legislation that created BEAD, any funds not spent on infrastructure were to remain with the States (See #6 below) to pursue other activities related to improving broadband. States aren’t going to easily let this funding go. Read more.2. FCC urged to Adopt Higher Rural Benchmark. NRECA and NTCA– The Rural Broadband Association were among the industry groups calling for raising the FCC fixed broadband benchmark from its current 100/20 Mbps benchmark.  NRTC/NRECA Rural Broadband Benchmarking Report found that more than 50 percent of consumers subscribe to services faster than 475/475 Mbps.  NTCA’s comments cited studies to show that consumer demand is rapidly exceeding 100/20 Mbps. Read more.3. Connected Nation’s BEAD Tracker. The Connected Nation BEAD Tracker compiles and aggregates data directly from published state BEAD final proposals. It will be updated with new data as final proposals are finalized.  To explore a breakdown of each state’s BEAD final proposal data submission, click here. Read more.4. Shirley Bloomfield to Retire as CEO of NTCA. NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association CEO Shirley Bloomfield announced that she will retire in March 2026. During Bloomfield’s tenure with NTCA, the association created the Foundation for Rural Service, which supports rural broadband providers, consumers, and policymakers with educational tools, products, and programming. As CEO, Bloomfield led NTCA in launching their Smart Rural Community and Gig-Certified programs. Read more.5. Fiber Deployments Fuel Consolidated Communications’ Name Change to Fidium. Fidium is now the official name of the company formerly known as Consolidated Communications. Prior to the name change, the provider used the Fidium name as a brand for its fiber broadband service for several years.  The announcement about the name change notes that more than 75% of Consolidated Communications’ broadband customers are now served by fiber.  The goal is to increase that to 80% “within the next few years.” Read more.6. MS Senator calls for states to keep their BEAD Non-deployment funds. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) is adding his voice to a growing chorus of Republican lawmakers urging the NTIA and Commerce Department to allow states to keep their leftover BEAD “non-deployment” funds. Wicker emailed constituents saying Congress “was clear” that states can use their remaining grant money — and he wants to direct it toward public safety tech, national security upgrades, and workforce training for emerging technologies like AI. The Commerce Department rescinded all non-deployment approvals back in June, freezing plans for things like broadband adoption and workforce programs, and now more than $17 billion is in limbo. Read more.7. Permitting a Key Broadband Deployment Factor. Permitting is one of the most consequential factors in broadband infrastructure deployment in this country, according to a new report from the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA). The report, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” highlights the best practices and persistent barriers in the permitting process. FBA suggests that the NTIA’s Environmental Screening and Tracking Tool provides a valuable blueprint for national reform, but local authorities, policies, and other factors are still proving to be large hurdles. Read more.8. Broadband Workforce Knowledge, Skill Level Seen as Lacking: Survey. More than half of broadband industry personnel recognize the importance of structured training programs to help build the broadband workforce and are working to implement them, according to a new survey. However, the survey also found that the effectiveness of the training and the time to productivity remain challenges.  The survey was conducted for the Fiber Broadband Association. More than half of respondents said the knowledge and/or skill of their current workforce is insufficient for current and future fiber projects. The opportunity and challenge are that almost 70% of fiber techs are nearing retirement.   Training the next generation of fiber technicians is a huge issue for the industry. Working with your key suppliers, like UCL Swift, is a great resource for additional training on fiber, fiber splicing, and fiber connectivity. Read more.FUNDING AWARDS, FIBER EXPANSIONS1. GPC announces expansion into Louisville, Lexington, KY markets. Great Plains Communications (GPC) announced the expansion of its fiber-optic network into Kentucky. This 165-mile network will provide businesses, wholesale customers, wireless carriers, and hyperscalers with fully redundant fiber connectivity and a complete suite of enterprise-grade services with speeds ranging from 1 Gigabit to 400 Gigabits.  The new build will deliver fiber connectivity directly to key Kentucky markets, extending service capabilities statewide and across the Great Plains Communications 13-state network footprint. Read more.2. Segra Introduces Inland Fiber Route From Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Segra announced major network enhancements with the development of a new direct inland fiber route from the Myrtle Beach Cable Landing Station, a major hub for subsea international traffic, to Charlotte, North Carolina. This strategic expansion strengthens Segra’s offerings and supports the growing demands of hyperscale and international network providers. Construction for the new route is slated to begin in the third quarter of 2025, with an expected completion in the second quarter of 2026. Read more.3. Metronet Announces Expansion in Castle Rock and Castle Pine, Colorado. Metronet announced that it will begin building 100% fiber-optic networks in both Castle Rock and Castle Pines, Colorado, late this summer. Metronet is moving forward with a $38 million private investment to bring fiber internet to tens of thousands of homes and local businesses in the two cities.  The expansion is in partnership with T-Mobile Fiber. Read more.4. Blue Owl Capital Takes Majority Interest in Gigabit Fiber. A fund managed by Blue Owl Capital has made a majority investment in Gigabit Fiber.  Gigabit Fiber owns and operates approximately 500 route miles of high-count fiber networks connecting more than 50 data centers across its network, with a presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Austin, El Paso, San Antonio, and South Texas. The Blue Owl investment will help Gigabit Fiber increase its footprint across TX, NM. Read more.5. FirstLight Completes 280-Mile AI-Ready Fiber Network Across Pennsylvania. FirstLight, announced the successful completion of a 280-mile dedicated network across Eastern Pennsylvania, directly connecting several strategic AI and data center sites. The project leverages FirstLight’s owned Pennsylvania fiber backbone, which spans more than 3,200 route miles and provides connectivity across 50 of the Commonwealth’s 67 counties. Read more.6. Every BSL is a “Hard Target” in Illinois’ Draft BEAD Final Proposal. The Illinois broadband office rolled out a proposal that, unlike all other states posting to date, utilizes almost all of its original BEAD allotment. Designating 95.22% of its original BEAD funds, the IL proposal still allocates 15% for LEO and 9.10% for Wireless of the BSLs. The plan deploys fiber to 75.6% and HFC to .3%. The big winner is Illinois-based Wisper Internet, which will receive $350M to serve $37K of IL 162 unserved and underserved. Read more.7. Ripple Fiber launches fiber internet in Holden, Massachusetts. Ripple Fiber launches fiber service in Holden, Massachusetts. After breaking ground in May 2025, the provider plans to bring fiber internet access to over 11,000 households in areas of Worcester County, including the towns of Holden and West Boylston. Read more.8. Southern Telecom and Seimitsu have formed a new strategic alliance focused on the US Southeast named SouthernWaves. Southern Telecom, a subsidiary of Southern Company, and Seimitsu, a Savannah-based leader in broadband networking solutions, have announced SouthernWaves, a strategic alliance poised to deliver fiber-optic network services across the Southeast. Traditionally, Southern Telecom has been known for providing dark fiber services, which require customers to manage their own network equipment. SouthernWaves is introducing lit services, with Seimitsu responsible for illuminating and managing bandwidth on Southern Telecom’s secure fiber routes, which are installed in highly secure conduits. Read more.   Broadband Bytes is a weekly collection of broadband news highlights from leading industry resourcescompiled by David Levine, RCDD. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois Universityand a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions. 

Nov 12, 2025