Fiber expected to add 23.2 million US homes passed by 2028

One hundred fifty billion dollars in new funding is expected to add an additional 59.3 million US homes to be reached by fiber over the next five years, according to the latest research from RVA Market Research & Consulting, with a total of over 137 million US homes passed by fiber by 2028.  At the end of 2023, 78 million US homes were passed by fiber with a total of 5.1 million route miles of fiber construction completed. An additional 4.2 million route miles of fiber is expected to be added over the next five years. Michael Render, Founder and CEO, of RVA said that BEAD funding, and unprecedented capital from private equity companies, makes for "a rather spectacular period." Render noted that the RVA five-year US FTTH forecast for 2024-2028 has been reduced to factor in potential constraints expected to come into play during the second half of the projected timeframe. Network operators have concerns around workforce shortages, rising costs, work process constraints such as approvals and access, and materials shortages slowing the pace of deployment, while smaller operators are concerned about BEAD requirements and regulation being significant obstacles to participating in the NTIA grant program.