The U.S. is investing billions of dollars in fiber internet. Here’s what makes it run.

One goal of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is to connect every household in the United States to high-speed internet. The law created the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, to take that $42 billion and allocate a portion to each state, as well as several territories. From there, state governments are responsible for distributing grants internet service providers to get everyone connected. The Build America Buy America Act (BABA), part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, requires that BEAD funds be spent only on American-made optical fiber and fiber-optic cable. This means that the American fiber supply chain will have to scale up to meet increasing demand coming from the federal investment. The Prysmian manufacturing facility in Claremont (NC) is one of only three optical fiber manufacturers in the country that meets BABA requirements.