Linda Hardesty

Is it still fiber broadband if it doesn’t include the optical glass or the cable coating surrounding the glass? X-Lumin, a company that does free-space optical technology, says the answer is “yes." And the company thinks it has something special to offer operators deploying fiber because its technology is useful in places where physical fiber connections are impractical. Free-space optical technology uses laser-light beams to wirelessly transmit data without having to use fiber optic cable.

Brightspeed, the company that bought Lumen Technologies’ copper assets in 20 markets, has won $3.7 billion in new financing to spend toward its fiber buildouts. The financing comes from a syndicate of bankers and other investors led by Brightspeed’s parent company Apollo Global Management. Apollo paid $7.5 billion for Brightspeed in 2022. Brightspeed CEO Tom Maguire said, “The same people who funded the original go-around are back again. I take that as a good sign.

In a recent panel, Gary Bolton, CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA), spoke candidly about the idea of SpaceX getting Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds. Bolton said he thought using federal funding for low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite broadband coverage was “absurd.” He said SpaceX’s top boss Elon Musk already has his roadmap set for deploying Starlink satellites. He added that it would be a big “cop out” if the BEAD program left the most difficult-to-reach locations to satellite broadband. The U.S.

Money is beginning to really flow into the U.S. fiber ecosystem, but the dollars are coming from a somewhat unexpected source—middle-mile and long-haul fiber projects.

Kendall County (IL) wanted to deliver a better broadband experience to its residents. So, it reached out to the local incumbent providers which reacted with smugness and arrogance. The county was so put off by the incumbents that it instead pursued a public-private broadband partnership. Many of the county’s residents have been dissatisfied with their selection of broadband providers, which include AT&T, Comcast and Metronet. So, the county decided to put out a request for proposal (RFP) for a private company to bring some broadband competition to the area.

At the Mountain Connect conference, one of Elon Musk’s top lieutenants—Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX—regaled the audience with exciting stories about rocket launches, and she also touted SpaceX’s Starlink broadband service as a great way to close the digital divide in hard-to-reach rural locations. Shotwell also revealed SpaceX was working with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on some “structural elements” to determine if SpaceX will bid for Broadband Equity Access and D

The broadband industry needs more workers. Specifically, it needs tens of thousands more construction workers and broadband technicians to complete a coming wave of government-funded deployment projects or else critical broadband expansions could be delayed. Some original research conducted by Continuum Capital found that the U.S.

Ciena is well known in the telecommunications space as an optical transport vendor, but when the company saw all the money becoming available from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, it wanted to get in on that action. About two years ago, the company made the decision to get into the fiber access business to homes and businesses. Recently Ciena CEO Gary Smith said that investments in fiber broadband access, fueled by "massive public funding around the world," are projected to grow the 10G and above PON market by a 55% CAGR to approximately $7 billion by 2027.

Middle-mile may have become more important than ever in terms of fiber networks because all the last-mile networks that will be built for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program need to connect to something. But honing-in on a precise definition of middle-mile is a challenge even for industry insiders. Joe Pellegrini, president and COO with Great Plains Communications, said, “It’s an end-to-end system with real estate, points of presence….

Alan Davidson, Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), said that the agency is going to put out a guidelines document in a couple of weeks that will outline the use of alternate technologies in Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) projects.  NTIA stated from the beginning that fiber is its preferred technology for BEAD projects. But in cases where that isn’t economical, other technologies such as licensed wireless or coaxial cable may be approved for BEAD funds.