Masha Abarinova

Wyoming-based Visionary Broadband’s got quite the resume in both the fiber and wireless space. Visionary won nearly $27 million in ARPA grant awards to provide fiber broadband in remote areas of Wyoming. It’s also got a foothold in Colorado, Montana and Washington state. State grants have helped Visionary recently gain seven new markets, said CEO Brian Worthen. Those include three markets in Colorado, two in Montana and two in Wyoming.

Ziply Fiber has set its sights on Montana for its next expansion. The operator unveiled plans to build fiber to nearly 29,000 addresses in Billings and Great Falls—marking Ziply’s first major expansion in the state. Previously, it only offered service in the towns of Libby and Troy. Ryan Luckin, Ziply’s VP of marketing, said that Ziply will use a combination of buried and aerial fiber for the deployments and expects to complete construction in Billings and Great Falls by the fall. Ziply’s also plotting to turn up another 26,000 addresses with fiber in Missoula, Helena and Butte.

Naysayers of fixed wireless access (FWA) be warned—the technology’s usage continues to climb.

Telephone companies may want to ditch copper and focus on the next best thing (i.e., fiber). But states aren’t about to let them off the hook. According to New Street Research, ILECs seeking to end their carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations are getting pushback from states because consumers might not have another option for internet access—including wireless. A COLR is a telecommunications service provider that’s required to serve upon request all customers within its designated service areas.

As of June 1, the Affordable Connectivity Program has officially come and gone. Question is, now what?

Wondering how the broadband equipment market is doing? Not great, according to Dell’Oro Group. In first quarter 2024, global revenue for the broadband access equipment market dropped 12 percent year-over-year to $4.1 billion, as spending in the market reached a two-year low. What’s the deal? Dell’Oro VP Jeff Heynen said that in some cases, operators are still working through excess inventory they built up in late 2022.

No surprise, consumers generally want flexible internet plans. Here’s a company that’s deconstructing the typical billing scheme. Althea is a startup that’s come up with a decentralized internet service that aims to remove the "manual pieces of friction at the last mile” so that rural areas get better access to broadband. The Althea platform is comprised of two core things, CEO Deborah Simpier explained. First, it’s a machine-to-machine payment.

Some broadband operators view fixed wireless access (FWA) as a looming, competitive threat.

In May 2024, Frontier posted positive quarterly revenue for the first time in nearly a decade. But maybe that’s not so surprising, given fiber has become its golden goose. Frontier Executive Chairman John Stratton recently reiterated the company’s year-end goal of building 1.3 million fiber passings.

Can cable get its groove back? It’s a common question as operators wade their way through a sea of fiber and fixed wireless access (FWA) competition. Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts talked about where the company stands in the broadband space and how it sees itself. Roberts described Comcast as “more of a consumer innovation and technology driven company.” Analyst Craig Moffett asked Roberts to delve into the elephant in the room – broadband.