Broadband Communities

Antin Infrastructure Partners has completed its acquisitions of Empire Access and North Penn Telephone, giving birth to a new fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) player serving Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania. Empire’s network consists of 1,280 fiber route miles servicing over 96,000 addresses and 29,000 customers in Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania. Antin plans to expand its high-speed fiber broadband footprint across the region.

Lumos will make a large investment in South Carolina’s Richland and Lexington Counties, bringing fiber-based internet service across the greater Columbia area.

Broadband companies are lworking with local and state leaders to bring their resources, expertise, and connections to finish the job of connecting everyone in the US to the power and opportunity of broadband. As they forge alliances to close their digital divide, several criteria are critical:

Public-private partnerships (P3s) between service providers and communities are well-established in Europe and growing in popularity across the US. The model in which a service provider desires the next-generation network but may not build, own or operate the network outright can be a great way to deliver a reliable, high-speed fiber broadband network with unlimited capacity to communities. The two standard flavors of P3s are "open:" a model in which the wholesale network is owned by a public-private entity and operates as an open-access wholesale network.

Fiber internet service providers and manufacturers across the US have been building their strategies toward sustainability since as early as 2015. The evolution from hardware-based to software-based networks began in the early 2000s. That was a step toward energy efficiency, lower carbon emissions, a smaller eco-footprint, and the use of more environmentally friendly materials. As the technology evolved, so did environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies. However, one type of network infrastructure has always been sustainable: fiber optics. And it’s not just about clean energy.

Construction of apartments in large, multiple-dwelling-unit (MDU) buildings by nongovernmental builders could set another record this year. Builders received more than 18,000 permits for MDUs with five dwelling units or more in 2021. The properties would contain 552,000 dwelling units, up from 532,000 in 2020.

Multifamily property owners want to make broadband an amenity available to residents as part of their rental agreements. They’re working hard to enter into bulk service agreements with service providers. Commonplace for cable television, these deals are between a homeowners association or condominium association and a company to deliver internet services to everyone who is a community member. Bulk internet services provide several benefits for multifamily owners/operators and residents:

States and territories were required to inform the National Telecommunications and Information Administration by July 18 if they intended to participate in the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. After NTIA approves a state’s anticipated planning process (due August 15), BEAD unlocks $5 million to each participating state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico ($1.25 million for the four smaller territories) for initial planning.