Fiber

Activity around the federal BEAD program continues to percolate now that states have started passing out funding to their subgrantees and the first locations powered by BEAD are connected. Impact: According the BEAD Progress Dashboard kept by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the agency has approved the final proposals of all but two states …

The Latest on the Federal BEAD Program As States Pass Out Funding Read More »

Verizon surprised analysts with its Q1 2026 results, particularly in postpaid phone net adds where the company added 55,000 new customers to garner its first Q1 positive net adds in 13 years. Impact: Leading up to Verizon’s quarterly earnings call, the company had been rather quiet other than a few appearances by CEO Dan Schulman …

Verizon Plans Big Fiber Push As Part of Its Convergence Strategy Read More »

AT&T moved deeper into Advanced Connectivity in Q1, unveiling new quarterly metrics designed to highlight the company’s success in convergence thanks to growth in fiber and fixed wireless. Impact: AT&T ended the quarter with nearly 15 million Internet connections in the Advanced Connectivity segment, including 12.5 million fiber customers and more than 2.3 million Internet …

Fiber and Internet Air Key to AT&T’s Advanced Connectivity Goals Read More »

With most states scheduled to submit their final proposals to the National Telecommunications & Information Administration by September 4, state broadband offices have been releasing provisional BEAD awards for the last several weeks, with new announcements occurring nearly every day. Impact: As of the end of August, 30 states had released their subgrantee selections using …

BEAD Funding Still Leans Toward Fiber As Deadline Nears Read More »

With the BEAD program’s Benefit of the Bargain round well underway, trends have started to emerge that illustrate how states plan to navigate the new rules implemented by the Trump Administration. Impact: Though the round hasn’t ended yet, not everyone is happy with how states have decided to navigate the revamped process, with SpaceX particularly …

SpaceX Unhappy with Benefit of the Bargain Round, Wants More Funds Read More »

The FCC signed off on the $5.1 billion ($7 billion Canadian) merger between Bell Canada parent company BCE and Ziply Fiber without any conditions despite current tensions in the U.S.-Canada relationship that could have upended the deal altogether. Impact: The approval, which followed closely on the heels of the FCC greenlighting two T-Mobile transactions, sets …

Canadian Operator Gets Clearance to Acquire Ziply Fiber Read More »

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration finally released a new notice of funding opportunity for the $42.5 billion federal BEAD program on June 6. Impact: As expected, the program’s fiber preference has been eliminated in favor of a more technology-neutral approach, although in this case technology neutral seems to …

BEAD Changes Throw the Entire Program into Disarray Read More »

Though less out of the blue than the Charter-Cox merger announcement on May 16, the news less than a week later that Lumen had agreed to sell its Mass Markets fiber business to AT&T still made a significant impact. Impact: After several months of negotiations, AT&T will acquire the majority of Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber …

AT&T Acquires Lumen’s Mass Markets Fiber Assets for $5.75B Read More »

Frontier continued to grow its fiber presence in 2024, adding fiber subscribers and expanding its fiber footprint while waiting for its acquisition by Verizon to close by early next year. Impact: In general, Frontier has been relatively quiet since shareholders approved the Verizon deal in November. It hasn’t held an earnings call either of the …

Fiber Propels Frontier to “Landmark” Year in 2024 Read More »