Brightspeed’s planned fiber passings top 1 million across 13 states

New broadband provider Brightspeed is now planning fiber expansion work in more than a dozen states, outlining its ambition to reach tens of thousands of new locations across South Carolina and Kansas. The operator is targeting up to 14,000 passings in South Carolina, with plans to hit an additional 36,000 passings by the end of its five-year buildout; and in Kansas, as it aims to reach 10,000 new passings and an additional 45,000 locations. Both states are looking at completion by 2023 or later. Brightspeed previously laid out plans to reach 1 million passings by the end of 2023 and 3 million within five years following the close of its acquisition of Lumen Technologies’ ILEC assets in 20 states. Over the past few months, it has announced builds in North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Ohio, Louisiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Arkansas in addition to the newly unveiled projects in Kansas and South Carolina. Asked whether the presence of fiber overbuilders might impact its plans, the representative indicated it is "not especially concerned" about such competitors in the areas it is targeting.