General

Broadband Bytes, January 2025 Issue 1

This initial 2025 edition includes: Record year in 2024 fiber deployments, USF and its future in the new Trump administration, net neutrality, Loper/Chevron Doctrine ruling, AI and fiber demand, NTIA guidance on alternative broadband for BEAD, expected BEAD performance measurement rules, 2024 M&A highlights, IQ Fiber acquires ThinkBig Networks MD, Dobson Fiber expands in OK, Surf Internet fiber expansion in IN, Allo Fiber’s new Boulder CO fiber network, Ubiquity finances fiber expansion and more BEAD applications open: NM, NY, AR, AZ.1. The U.S. fiber industry set another record in 2024, marketing fiber to 10.3 million new homes, up from 9.1 million new homes marketed to in 2023 (+13%), according to data compiled by Michael Render, CEO at RVA LLC. Fiber broadband is now marketed to 76.5 million U.S. homes, and if you include homes with more than one fiber passing, there are now 88.1 million FTTH passings in the U.S. According to the research, fiber now passes 56.5% of U.S. households and 18% of second homes. Compared to the 88.1 million homes currently passed, there are still 149 million passings to go. Read more2. USF and the new administration. Editorial on the potential future status of the USF under the new Trump Administration. Read more​.3. US court blocks reinstatement of net neutrality. A U.S. appeals court struck a major blow to the Biden administration’s aspirations of restoring net neutrality, ruling that the FCC does not have the power to enforce such regulations. Net neutrality is the concept that all internet users and internet traffic should be treated equally by service providers. This paradigm means providers may not block, slow down, or charge different rates for specific online content. Championed by the Democrats for over a decade and formally introduced as a ruleset by the Obama administration, net neutrality was then rescinded in 2018 during the Trump presidency. Joe Biden made the reinstatement of net neutrality a focal point of his election campaign, issuing an executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate the rules in 2021. Now, following this new ruling, it seems that net neutrality’s return is unlikely. Read more.4. Loper Bright and Chevron Doctrine, a court ruling that changes how D.C. operates. A Supreme Court decision this year redefined the balance of power between federal agencies and the courts—curbing the power of regulators like the FCC and the NTIA to interpret ambiguous statutes. The ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, issued in June, was expected to unleash a wave of legal challenges to FCC and NTIA policies that lack explicit Congressional backing, reshaping the landscape of telecommunications and broadband regulation. Read more​.5. If 2024 is an indicator, AI will be huge for fiber in 2025. There were several big news announcements in 2024 about AI driving demand for fiber broadband. The biggest news item was Lumen’s win of a fiber broadband contract with Microsoft. Dave Ward, Lumen’s CTO, said the demand for fiber was creating “the largest expansion of the internet in our lifetime.” Another telling sign that AI is infusing life into the fiber broadband ecosystem was when Nokia’s CEO Pekka Lundmark said in October that telco is no longer the top growth market for the Finnish vendor. Instead, the company has turned its focus for growth to data centers. Read more.6. Final guidance for BEAD funding of alternative broadband technology. NTIA released guidance to clarify how states can use broadband funding to deploy technologies like Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites and unlicensed fixed wireless. The final Alternative Broadband Technology Policy Notice provides states and territories with additional guidance on issuing subgrants to these alternative technology providers. This notice gives states and territories additional flexibility and simplified processes for determining where Alternative Technologies can be funded, all while ensuring that states and territories may select the most robust technology for each BEAD-funded location, including those locations in the most remote and difficult-to-reach areas. The final guidance and copies of the 138 comments received by NTIA can be found here. Read more​.7. NTIA proposes BEAD performance measurement rules. One of the many requirements for BEAD winners will be to regularly report customer speeds after networks are built. NTIA recently issued a draft of the measurement requirements and the final rules should be similar. Highlights of the measuring requirements can be found here.8. Sizing up the top 2024 M&A deals. Service providers and vendors alike continued to make acquisitions and mergers in 2024 to scale their businesses and fill in product gaps. Follows is a link that highlights the top M&A stories of 2024. Read more.9. Jacksonville Florida-based ISP IQ Fiber has completed their acquisition of a Maryland-based fiber provider ThinkBig Networks. IQ Fiber’s planned acquisition of ThinkBig Networks has been completed. The acquisition was backed by SDC Capital Partners. The completed acquisition will add four Maryland counties to IQ Fiber’s footprint: Charles, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Harford. Read more.FUNDING AWARDS, FIBER EXPANSIONS1. Dobson Fiber, an Oklahoma-based ISP, has broken ground on a multimillion-dollar fiber network expansion project in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Dobson Fiber operates a network that spans 38 communities in Oklahoma. In addition to those communities, they also serve less than half a dozen communities in Arkansas. Read more.2. Surf Internet has embarked on a $5.5 million fiber network expansion project in Peru, a north-central Indiana community. In total, Surf expects to reach 4,275 residential and commercial properties in Peru. The project is backed by an investment of over $5.5 million. During the project, Surf says they are working in tandem with Miami-Cass REMC and their subsidiary, Broadway Broadband. Miami-Cass REMC, described on its website as a not-for-profit, consumer-member-owned utility, will assist Surf with its “local expertise and fiber network resources.” Read more.3. ALLO Fiber to begin network construction in Boulder, CO. Construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2025. Once construction is completed, Boulder will become one of more than 50 communities ALLO Fiber serves across Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Missouri, Iowa and Kansas. Read more.4. Ubiquity secures more than $400M financing for fiber deployments. Ubiquity, a digital communications infrastructure owner, operator and developer has successfully secured $420 million in green construction financing facilities, with proceeds used to expand the deployment of last-mile open-access fiber networks across its core markets in Texas, California, Arizona and Nebraska. Read more.5. New Mexico releases BEAD application timelines and criteria. New Mexico has announced the criteria and deadlines for its $675 million BEAD Program allotment. It has set a February 27 Round One application deadline. The deadline will be followed by a review and curing period (February 24-March 28), negotiation (March 31-May 16) and the provisional announcement of awards (May 19-June 19). Read more.6. New York accepts applications for $664M in BEAD funding. The state of New York has begun accepting applications for $664 million in the BEAD rural broadband funding program. Applications are due February 7. The New York program, known as ConnectALL, is administered by the state agency known as Empire State Development (ESD). Read more. 7. Arkansas opens BEAD application window on January 7. Arkansas, which was awarded $1.024 billion in the BEAD Program, will open and accept Main Round applications from January 7 to January 21. The Arkansas State Broadband Office is administering the process. Arkansas BEAD applications must be submitted to the ARC Connection application portal window. Read more.8. Arizona’s round one BEAD application window open until February 5. Arizona has set January 6 to February 5 as the Round One application window in their BEAD Program deployment process. The state has been allotted $993.1 million in the program. Arizona’s BEAD Program will be administered by the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA). Read more.    Broadband Bytes is a regular feature by David Levine of UCL Swift. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, a certified BICSI RCDD,and a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions.He currently works as a Business Development Manager for UCL Swift.

Jan 28, 2025

General

Broadband Bytes, January 2025 Issue 2

This edition includes: Spectrum Auction to fund Rip and Replace, Broadband around the globe, Editorial on BEAD spending in 2025, BEAD Final Proposal approvals, Carr now in charge of FCC, FCC ends DEI directives, Hawaii full fiber access by 2026?, BEAD spending safe in Trump executive order, ATT and NY low-cost service law, Telecom policy focus and questions in Trump’s first days.It also reviews Funding Awards and Network Expansions, including Allo $65M Flagstaff AZ, Lyte Fiber $11M+ Kingsville TX, $18M grants for Tribal Lands, Visionary Broadband acquires Mountain Broadband in CO, $32M last mile service grants CA, 123NET $11M investment in MI, Conexon-Georgia Co-Op new fiber network, Zayo to add 5,000 miles long haul fiber and TX BOOT Round 1 and 2 Funding.1. Spectrum auction to fund “rip and replace” program. The FCC is pushing ahead with plans for a new spectrum auction to help pay for the removal and replacement of Chinese telecom equipment from U.S. networks. The Rip and Replace program, established in 2019, is an initiative by the FCC designed to help secure the U.S. telco infrastructure by removing and replacing high-risk network equipment made by Chinese companies, particularly Huawei and ZTE. The project was initially allocated $1.9 billion in public funding to support smaller operators to replace their equipment; however, demand for the funds far outstripped the budget. Following years of pressure from the FCC, late last month the U.S. Senate approved a bill allocating the required funding to the rip and replace initiative. The bill allows the FCC to borrow the required funding from the Treasury on the proviso that the funds are repaid with profits from upcoming spectrum auctions. Read more.2. The state of broadband around the globe: what you need to know. Most know the U.S. is trying to close its digital divide with the $42.5 billion BEAD program. But what about the rest of the world? Plenty of other countries have their own government-led broadband efforts, some of which were established years before BEAD surfaced. Fierce Networks looked into how some of these countries are implementing broadband. Read more.3. BEAD spending in 2025. Will BEAD spending and construction flow in 2025? This editorial provides points to consider. Read more.4. More states get NTIA BEAD Final Proposal Approval. Read more.- Delaware’s final proposal details how it plans to use the more than $107 million in allocated BEAD funding to connect 5,721 homes and businesses. The approval of Delaware’s final proposal for BEAD follows the approval of Louisiana’s final proposal.   - Louisiana was allotted $1.355 billion in BEAD funding but will use some of it for purposes other than deployments like education and workforce development.- Nevada’s final proposal details how it plans to use the more than $416 million in allocated BEAD funding to connect 43,715 homes and businesses.- Michigan ($1.5B) and Maine ($272M), are now accepting applications for BEAD funding.- Colorado plans to begin accepting applications for the state’s second round of BEAD funding on January 27.              5. Brendan Carr is now officially in charge at the FCC. Deregulation is expected on the telecom front, but Carr must also contend with state efforts to regulate broadband. Carr and telecom trade groups were pleased to hear that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals effectively killed the FCC’s efforts to restore net neutrality and classify broadband providers as Title II carriers. However, the downside to not being classified as Title II carriers is that the FCC now has very little regulatory authority over broadband providers. So, states are free to regulate broadband providers how they see fit, and the FCC doesn’t appear to have any authority to preempt states. Read more.6. The newly named chair of the FCC, Brendan Carr, has taken action to end the commission’s “promotion of DEI.” Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC, has taken action to end the FCC’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) directives following an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. Read more.7. Hawaiian Telcom pledges full fiber access by end of 2026. Hawaiian Telcom is collaborating with federal, state, and county leaders on a $1.7 billion initiative to position Hawaii as the first fully fiber-enabled state in the U.S. by 2026. Read more.8. BEAD spending safe from energy executive order, White House Says (1/22/2025). The White House issued a memo clarifying that a call to pause Infrastructure Act funding applied only to energy projects. The Trump administration clarified that an executive order directing agencies to pause Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure Act funding applies only to certain energy projects, dispelling some fears of broadband deployment efforts being caught in a political crossfire. Read more.9. ISPs react to $15 rates in New York. AT&T announced that it will withdraw its 5G home Internet product in New York rather than comply with the law that requires it to offer broadband rates as low as $15.  It’s hard to think that New York regulators won’t quickly react to AT&T walking away from existing FWA customers. This decision might ultimately cost the company more in fines than what it would lose from customer discounts. Read more.10. Telecom policy objectives come into focus in Trump’s first days. A spate of recent changes has brought several telecom policy objectives of Donald Trump’s administration into focus, but questions remain. Read more.FUNDING AWARDS, FIBER EXPANSIONS1. Construction on a $65 million fiber network in Flagstaff, Arizona is due to begin this March, according to ALLO Fiber. The Nebraska-based ISP announced the news in December, along with news of their planned fiber build in Boulder, Colorado. Read more.2. Lyte Fiber to launch fiber network in Kingsville, Texas. Lyte Fiber announced a new investment in Kingsville, Texas, introducing its fiber network to homes and businesses. Lyte, a Texas-based and founded company, is investing more than $11 million into the network buildout. Lyte will connect nearly 7,500 locations, with plans for further market expansion. Lyte is set to install over 100 miles of fiber optic cable across Kingsville. Read more.3. NTIA announces almost $18M in broadband grants for Tribal Lands. The NTIA announced it has awarded nearly $18 million to seven Tribal entities to expand high-speed Internet access and adoption. The funding from the nearly $3 billion Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All Initiative. Read more.4. Mississippi Power Association undertakes fiber network expansion. The fiber subsidiary of the Alcorn County Electric Power Association has expanded their network in New Albany, MS. ACE Fiber, the Alcorn County Electric Power Association’s subsidiary, claims the development will enhance the user experience for residents. Read more.5. Visionary Broadband acquires Mountain Broadband in CO. Mountain Broadband will rebrand as Visionary Broadband, the acquired company’s “team” will be retained, and the new owners will begin the rollout of gigabit services in the Mountain Broadband footprint and move into surrounding areas in the coming months. Read more.6. California PUC announces more than $32M in broadband grants. $25 million of the funding will go to Federal Funding Account grants to provide last-mile services in Kings County and benefit approximately 5,869 residents. Another $3 million is for a project in Ventura County. It will benefit 2,377 residents.  The organizations benefiting from the grants are the California Emerging Technology Fund, the Economic Opportunities Commission, International Rescue Committee – Oakland, the Rural Prosperity Center, Swords to Plowshares, and United Way of Central Eastern California. Read more.7. Investment of $11 million backs long-haul fiber route in Michigan. 123NET, a Michigan connectivity provider has announced plans to build a redundant, long-haul fiber route from Grand Rapids to Lansing. In addition to other projects, 123NET is also responsible for a fiber network from downtown Kalamazoo and the launching of the Grand Rapids Internet Exchange. Read more.8. Conexon adds 8,400 Georgia cooperative customers to its footprint. The now-completed network has over 1,600 miles of fiber and connects all 8,400 members of Ocilla-based Irwin EMC. The cooperative’s members stretch across eight counties. Read more.9. Zayo announces construction of 5,000+ fiber miles to help meet AI workload demands. To ensure customers can scale alongside AI demand, Zayo plans to build five new long-haul routes, in addition to overbuilds of seven key existing routes, over the next five years. Read more.10. Texas broadband grants aim to give the digital divide the BOOT. The Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas (BOOT II) Program has awarded $701.9 million in grants to help provide broadband to unserved and underserved locations in the state. More than $424.6 million of the $701.9 million Texas broadband grants have been finalized. This covers 54,000 locations in Bastrop, Carson, Coleman, Edwards, Falls, Irion, Karnes, Liberty, Morris, Newton, Reagan, Throckmorton, and Trinity counties. The Texas Broadband Development Office says it is finalizing the other nine counties which, combined, will serve almost 39,000 unserved locations. Read more.    Broadband Bytes is a regular feature by David Levine of UCL Swift. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, a certified BICSI RCDD,and a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions.He currently works as a Business Development Manager for UCL Swift.

Feb 25, 2025