Linda Hardesty

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, according to data compiled by Michael Render, CEO and principal analyst at RVA LLC. The 10.3 million new homes marketed (as well as the 9.1 million homes from last year) also includes 2nd passings to some homes. In 2024, 8.4 million homes were passed and marketed with fiber for the first time. Fiber broadband is now marketed to 76.5 million U.S.

Nearly 30 state broadband officers attended the recent Fierce Network Broadband Nation Expo in Washington, D.C., where they outlined some of their top concerns related to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Some of their top issues include when they will disburse funds for broadband projects, who will bid for BEAD monies, what types of technologies they’ll use to deliver broadband to unserved locations and how they’ll set the high-cost thresholds in their states. State broadband officers also talked about the cost and availability of middle-mile networks.

Windstream Wholesale is building a fiber spur to one of Hurricane Electric’s data centers in the San Francisco Bay area, a primary location in Hurricane Electric’s global service provider and co-location network. In terms of the general landscape for long-haul fiber, John Nishimoto, senior VP of Product and Marketing said there’s good demand for both lit fiber and dark fiber. Windstream is definitely seeing demand for lit fiber, such as the deal with Hurricane Electric, he said.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) seems to hate many things about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Congress passed in 2021 with bipartisan support. Cruz’s hatred could presage rocky times for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program in 2025 because he is likely to head up the Senate Commerce Committee when Republicans take majority control of the Senate in January.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has laid out a list of all its accomplishments related to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. But somehow, the list has a sad ring to it—as if it’s the final swan song of a group that’s worked very hard for three years but knows that all that work could get kicked under the rug by the new Trump administration. But in the interim, NTIA put out an announcement, updating everyone on the program and touting its milestones.

Evan Feinman, a director with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), addressed the “elephant in the room,” specifically what the new Trump administration will mean for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. “My job is to faithfully execute the laws as written by Congress and as directed by my leadership, and we are getting an awful lot done," he said.

Cox Communications owns two companies that provide fiber broadband for enterprises—Unite Private Networks (UPN) and Segra. And Cox just cleaned up the portfolio of these companies by selling the Pacific Northwest assets of UPN to Ziply Fiber. Both UPN and Segra provide fiber optic communications services to commercial enterprises as well as organizations such as schools, governments, service providers and hyperscalers. Ziply will acquire UPN’s fiber assets, network and customers in Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

Donald Trump’s most clearly articulated economic plan is that he intends to impose a lot of tariffs on foreign-made goods entering the U.S. We can also speculate that he won’t allow tax breaks given in 2018 to lapse as they’re scheduled to do, and that Republicans will probably address taxes as one of the first items on their agenda.

Comcast’s CFO Jason Armstrong said that two years ago the company used to increase its broadband footprint by passing 800,000 more homes per year, but now it’s pacing at around 1.2 million new homes passed yearly. Armstrong recently reiterated what Comcast executives have been saying for several quarters now—that fixed wireless access (FWA) and fiber are its two key competitors in terms of technology. Jason Livingood, VP of Technology Policy, Products and Standards with Comcast, said the company has been focused on building in rural areas over the last couple of years, and Broadband Equity,

Bell Canada announced it was acquiring Ziply Fiber for $3.65 billion in cash plus the assumption of debt, resulting in a transaction value of about $7 billion. This deal follows Verizon’s recent announcement that it’s acquiring Frontier for $20 billion. The announcement between Bell Canada and Ziply would make Bell the third largest fiber internet services provider in North America, after AT&T and Verizon.