Vendors see sizable opportunities beyond rural broadband

Fiber vendors have long been banking on the promise of revenue opportunities via the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program and rural broadband expansion, but the hype is simmering down in light of fiber's uncertainty in the new administration. As a result, communications equipment vendors are eyeing greener pastures. For the most part, vendors are “being pretty quiet about the BEAD opportunity because so much is still up in the air,” said Dell’Oro Group VP Jeff Heynen. Then again, they figured delays were inbound ever since the election results, so they had time to brace themselves. Speaking on the company's Q4 earnings call, Adtran CEO Tom Stanton said plainly that the BEAD program is “not a big driver” for 2025 revenue.