Masha Abarinova

Bluepeak struck a franchise agreement with the City of Norman, Oklahoma, to bring fiber service to nearly 55,000 residents and businesses. The operator is pouring $55 million in capital into the buildout, marking Bluepeak’s largest investment in a single market outside of South Dakota. Asked what made Bluepeak select Norman as its next expansion target, an representative said proximity was a key draw.

Tucows’ Ting Internet has launched fiber service in select neighborhoods across Alexandria (VA), which the company said is now Ting’s largest market to date. Plans to construct the network were announced in spring 2022, with Tucows CEO Elliot Noss then noting Alexandria has over 90,000 serviceable addresses. Ting began construction in September 2022 and has broken down the project into five major areas.

Kentucky, which only established its broadband office in 2022, is putting in some hard, and in some cases unique, work to enhance internet access and prepare for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Meghan Sandfoss, executive director for Kentucky’s Office of Broadband Development, delved into some of the challenges the state has encountered.

Competition in the broadband industry continues to pick up, which means providers can’t solely rely on high speeds to stand out in the market, according to Calix CEO Michael Weening. Weening explained that due to the emergence of fiber, the difference between a cable company and a telephone company is really “no longer relevant.” “Everybody’s starting to think differently,” he said.

States are poised to play a critical role in the broadband funding landscape, but each state has a different approach to selecting broadband projects and administering funds.

Much of the hype around broadband funding is focused on the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, but money continues to flow from the Capital Projects Fund (CPF). To date, the US Treasury Department has awarded nearly $5 billion from the CPF across 33 states. That amount is almost half of the Treasury Department’s $10 billion allotment for the fund. States that have received funding thus far expect to connect 1.4 million households as a result. The CPF was created in March 2021, but Treasury only began approving state funding requests June 2022.

ACA Connects President and CEO Grant Spellmeye underscored the top-of-mind issues pervading the broadband industry. Unsurprisingly, the allocation of federal funds was front and center. First, ACA wants to make sure broadband funding is going where it’s supposed to be, as Spellmeyer noted the organization is “very concerned” about overbuilding using government support. The biggest pot of broadband money comes from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

With Altice USA revamping its management with a slew of Comcast veterans, investors are wondering if the latter might be eyeing an acquisition of the former.

The Alaskan landscape is rife with broadband accessibility and deployment challenges, which GCI is all too familiar with.

Fixed wireless and fiber provider Rise Broadband has been acquired by private equity firm GI Partners – a move that will propel Rise’s fiber-to-the-home deployments in the rural US, the companies said. GI Partners and Rise aim to “execute a multi-year, fiber-based network expansion effort,” according to Brendan Collins, managing director and co-head of GI Data Infrastructure.