Why fiber construction is a hot mess right now

As fiber deployments surge, so do the various challenges associated with building. Speakers on a Fiber Connect panel voiced their main deployment gripes, from permitting and poles to disrupting community infrastructure. “Anyone who thinks a fiber business is a technology business is sorely mistaken,” said Greg Wilson, founder and CEO of Ripple Fiber. It’s more of a construction business, where any large project faces challenges with labor, permitting, regulation snags and the like. Construction is a hot mess, according to Mitchell J. Campagna, president and CEO of architecture firm Mitchell J. Architecture. Even if a provider has permits ready to go for laying fiber, it doesn’t mean much if the infrastructure isn’t left in tip-top shape. When deployment delays hit, it’s key to have an “agile team that’s able to very quickly identify what the root of the issue is, and then also have the authority” to solve those problems, Wilson said.