Diana Goovaerts

Here’s where Comcast is expanding its network in 2023

Comcast is looking to accelerate its network expansion in 2023, aiming to ramp rollouts from the 840,000 new passings it achieved in 2022 to as many as 1 million in 2023. Comcast has expanded into the following states and regions:

Rural operators cheer, cable companies jeer proposed A-CAM changes

Charter Communications, Comcast, and Cox Communications all met with Federal Communications Commission officials earlier in March 2023 to discuss A-CAM issues. A-CAM refers to the FCC’s Alternative Connect America Model program, which supports broadband deployments in eligible high-cost areas.

Lumen expects to pick up its fiber build pace in 2024

Lumen Technologies is hoping to grease the wheels on its fiber build in 2023 after pressing pause on its work late in 2022 and is aiming to exit the year having achieved a quarterly build pace that will allow it to exceed 500,000 new passings in 2024. The operator was originally planning to reach 1.5 million to 2 million locations this year as part of a plan to expand its footprint to 12 million locations over the coming years.

CommScope debuts HeliARC fiber for rural builds, invests $47 million in production

CommScope unveiled a new fiber cable it claimed will drive down installation costs for rural broadband builds, supporting the product's launch with enough production capacity to cover at least half a million homes per year. CEO Chuck Treadway said CommScope plans to invest another $47 million to expand its fiber capacity even further. CommScope’s new HeliARC fiber is “smaller and lighter” than traditional fiber cable.

Charter buys Maine Broadband Provider Bee Line, invests $82 Million

Charter Communications is flexing some muscle in Maine in the face of growing fiber coverage from the likes of Consolidated Communications. Charter plans to invest a total $82 million over the coming years and scooped up Bee Line Cable to flesh out its footprint in the central part of the state. Bee Line boasts 300 miles of fiber cable, which it uses to serve internet and digital voice products to consumers in Anson, East Millinocket, Farmington, Industry, Madison, Millinocket, Skowhegan, and Wilton.

Here’s where Verizon is building new Fios connections

Verizon is planning to build 500,000 new Fios passings in 2023 as it works to increase its overall footprint to 18 million locations. The company is “actively building” in all nine of the states where it already offers Fios service. Verizon has recently laid out plans to pass more than 70,000 new locations in Massachusetts, nearly 2,000 in Delaware, 1,500 in upstate New York, and 349 in Virginia.

Windstream hits 300,000 new passings in 2022, targets 2023 repeat

Residents of Morgantown (PA) became the latest to tap into Windstream’s Kinetic fiber network. But according to Jeff Small, President of Kinetic, Morgantown is just the beginning of Windstream’s plans for 2023. The newest passings in Pennsylvania are a part of Windstream’s national rollout to overbuild fiber on top of its historic DSL footprint. “We’re building 300,000 fiber passings a year,” explained Small. “When you look at the end of 2021, we had 164,000 fiber customers.

Element8 takes fixed wireless and fiber to the heartland with $200 million investment

Texas-based broadband provider Element8 is looking to make a name for itself in rural America. The company snagged a $200 million infusion of cash from private equity firm Digital Alpha to push its fixed wireless access and fiber services deeper into the central US. Founded in 2020, Element8 has focused on serving broadband in its home state primarily using fixed wireless access technology and a sprinkle of fiber.

Frontier and Charter spar over speed, and availability claims in ad disputes

Fiber-focused Frontier Communications and cable giant Charter Communications each took some hits and scored some points in a series of clashes over marketing claims related to their respective broadband products. Frontier scored a key win as the National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended Charter qualify some of its speed claims to note they’re not symmetrical, while Charter prevailed in challenges related to Frontier’s claims around availability and reliability.

Is the fiber hangover real?

Analysts have been in a tizzy warning that fiber players across the board are slowing their network deployments after a record build year in 2022. But is the fiber hangover actually real? Or are actual build figures still expected to increase? Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton said that the reduced estimates are “not indicative” of the overall trend in fiber deployments. “I think these are just short-term adjustments, but everything we’re seeing is foot on the gas.” So, is the fiber hangover real? Only time will tell.