Diana Goovaerts

Nokia unveiled a new solution called Gigabit Connect which is designed to make broadband deployments in multi-dwelling units (MDUs) easier for fiber players who lack expertise with legacy cabling. The company explained the product builds on G.fast, a technology which allows high-speed broadband to be delivered via copper and coax wiring over short distances. Specifically, Gigabit Connect is meant to make G.fast more friendly for fiber players by enabling the last leg of connectivity to be managed as a fiber endpoint under a single management interface.

With a much lighter debt load following a pair of asset sales totaling $1.8 billion in 2021, US broadband provider WideOpenWest (WOW!) set its sights on building greenfield fiber to as many as 400,000 homes by 2027. CFO John Rego said the company will start with an initial goal of building fiber-to-the-home to 200,000 locations by 2025 at an approximate cost of $160 million. If it finds success in its starter markets, he said, WOW!

Altice USA is jockeying to secure its fair share of broadband subsidy money as billions in federal funding flows to the states, with CEO Dexter Goei revealing it has already applied for $150 million in support and plans to chase significantly more. Goei said over the next six to 12 months Altice will likely apply for an additional $500 million in funding. Across all the territories contiguous to its coverage areas “we suspect there’s probably a billion of subsidy money to go after if we were to apply for all of the availability,” he added.

Comcast has touted all the network upgrades it is doing as it pushes toward DOCSIS 4.0, but it appears to be planning one more key move: rolling out new Wi-Fi routers that can handle the speeds it’s aiming to deliver. Comcast Cable CEO David Watson said the company views Wi-Fi as a key element of its broadband package.

Consolidated Communications, an US broadband and business communications provider headquartered in Mattoon (IL), secured a key approval for a multi-million investment deal it struck with private equity firm Searchlight Capital Partners, as the Federal Communications Commission signed off on the transaction, conditioned on terms laid out in a Letter of Agreement Consolidated signed with the Department of Justice. Under these terms, Consolidated must designate a US law enforcement contact who will have access

The central US appears to have caught the eye of equity investors, with Bluepeak becoming the latest privately-funded fiber company to plot a major expansion there. Right now, Bluepeak offers service to around 60,000 subscribers in South Dakota and parts of western Minnesota under the name Vast Broadband. Planned investments include a $140 million build in Oklahoma to bring fiber to more than 140,000 homes and businesses across the state.

Verizon may not be pursuing a massive expansion of its fiber footprint like some competitors, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t see value in the smaller scale work it’s doing with Fios. Verizon CFO Matt Ellis said the company is working to add around 400,000 open-for-sale locations within its incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) footprint in 2021 and for “at least the next two to three years.” Some of these additions are related to new build activity, with Verizon swooping in to “wire Fios in upfront” in houses and apartment buildings as they’re constructed by developers.

Consolidated Communications launched a fresh “Fidium Fiber” brand for consumers in its New England footprint, pairing its residential connectivity with a new app that offers users more control over their in-home broadband experience. Currently available to customers in parts of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, Fidium Fiber offers symmetrical 50 Mbps, 250 Mbps and 1-gig service tiers. The latter runs $70 per month, with Wi-Fi equipment and installation costs included and no contract required.

Frontier Communications is gearing up to capitalize on broadband funding opportunities created by the passage of the US infrastructure bill and points to the federal dollars as a key part of its fiber expansion plan.

Analyst firm GlobalData tipped cable to lose ground to fiber over the coming years as competition among broadband providers peddling multi-gigabit services intensifies. Tammy Parker, principal analyst at GlobalData, said the multi-gigabit marketplace is already heating up despite the fact that very few households actually require such speeds.