Brightspeed targets 120,000 fiber locations in Alabama over next five years

Brightspeed is looking to deploy fiber at a furious pace following the expected close of its deal to buy ILEC assets from Lumen Technologies, targeting rollouts to 1 million locations by end-2023. It has now laid out plans to reach more than half of its goal, naming Alabama as the fourth state where it’s planning a significant project. The operator said it will initially target 60,000 fiber passings in the state by the end of 2023, adding to the more than 10,000 existing passings it will have there once the Lumen deal wraps. Work will be focused in Baldwin, Covington, Dale, Elmore, Fayette, Geneva, Henry, Pickens and Tallapoosa (AL) counties. In subsequent years, Brightspeed said it plans to build up to 60,000 additional passings in Alabama to take its total new passings there to 120,000 as it works its way to an overall goal of reaching 3 million locations over the next five years. Beyond its own plans, Brightspeed’s Operations Strategy Lead Sherry Hessenthaler said it is also eyeing an “opportunity to partner with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) to pursue a possible extension of the build and bring fiber-based internet to even more customers in the state.”