Masha Abarinova

Tariff confusion is through the roof right now, but fiber broadband operators and their equipment suppliers probably don’t have much to worry about, according to Dell’Oro Group VP Jeff Heynen.

As cable grapples with declining broadband subscribers and increased competition, Comcast unveiled a new pricing play that could turn the ship around for the industry, according to analysts. The operator is now offering a five-year price guarantee for new broadband customers—a plan that starts at $55/month with no annual contract required.

Copper retirement isn't just about regulatory compliance. Copper networks are just plain impractical to maintain, according to operators. The U.S.

Cable operators still have a long road ahead in turning the corner on their subscriber slump, according to New Street Research, as the future of household growth looks bleak. Unsurprisingly, the Trump administration’s crackdown on U.S. immigration calls for slower population growth.

When it comes to using AI, Comcast firmly believes it has a leg up on the fiber competition due to its DOCSIS 4.0 technology, according to chief network officer Elad Nafshi. Nafshi argues that because Comcast has embedded AI that’s “literally feet away from the customer” with real-time pattern detection capabilities, the operator can pinpoint “exactly” where there is interference in the network. Comcast started rolling out DOCSIS 4.0 in fall 2023, offering con

The Universal Service Fund’s day in court came and went, and the U.S. telecommunications industry still has hope the subsidy will live to see another day. But even if the Supreme Court deems the USF framework constitutional, there’s still no easy path to reform the program. The Supreme Court heard arguments related to the Fifth Circuit’s decision that the USF’s funding method is unconstitutional.

It’s fairly obvious by now long-haul fiber and data center connectivity matter for AI innovation. But where do last mile fiber-to-the-premises deployments factor in? Network automation is perhaps the most apparent use-case, but fiber operators are also be well-positioned to house future AI edge applications.

Fiber vendors have long been banking on the promise of revenue opportunities via the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program and rural broadband expansion, but the hype is simmering down in light of fiber's uncertainty in the new administration. As a result, communications equipment vendors are eyeing greener pastures. For the most part, vendors are “being pretty quiet about the BEAD opportunity because so much is still up in the air,” said Dell’Oro Group VP Jeff Heynen.

AT&T ran a wavelength that carried two 800 Gigabit Ethernet circuits across 296 kilometers of its commercial long-distance fiber network, creating "a full, uninterrupted data path utilizing a single light frequency across the entire fiber length between two points.” Practically speaking, this means AT&T can brace itself for the incoming barrage of network traffic, which is set to double by 2028. Importantly, AT&T's trial took place “with other customers’ live traffic alongside it,” said Dell’Oro Group analyst Jimmy Yu.

Regardless of the final form it ends up taking, the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program is poised to play a key role in addressing rural connectivity. But the rural access divide isn’t the only issue we need to worry about, according to New Street Research Policy Analyst Blair Levin.