The Fiber Land-Grab

It’s becoming clear that we are now deep into a fiber land-grab. By that, I mean that companies that overbuild fiber are moving as quickly as possible into markets to build fiber. The biggest broadband providers have publicly discussed their plans for building a lot of fiber in 2023. I call it a land grab because these providers are all hoping to get to towns and neighborhoods first in order to dissuade anybody else from building fiber there. Since most places getting fiber are already served by a cable company, most of this land grab is not going to create monopolies—but these fiber builders all think they can win a significant share of the market away from the cable competitor. It doesn’t always work out the way that the fiber overbuilders hope.