Network management

In case you had any doubts about Verizon’s fiber ambitions, the company revealed just how far it thinks it can go by acquiring Frontier’s footprint. Once (and if) the acquisition closes, Verizon expects to reach more than 30 million fiber passings by 2028. In the longer-term, it’s targeting 35-40 million locations passed, a goal easier said than done, analysts noted.

AT&T CEO John Stankey says the company has seen better-than-expected results in the use of open-access models outside the operator's own fiber footprint. He said the economics of the open-access model is also worth a look within AT&T's own fiber footprint. AT&T's fiber network passes more than 28 million locations and remains on track to reach 30 million by the end of 2025.

A new wave of private capital and joint ventures is beginning to transform the way open access networks are financed and developed. What was once largely a public-sector initiative is now attracting billions in private investment from firms like the Canadian Northleaf Capital Partners and BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, betting heavily on shared network models.

A large Internet service provider (ISP) wants the Supreme Court to rule that ISPs shouldn't have to disconnect broadband users who have been accused of piracy.

Starting February 2025, Canada’s largest telephone companies, led by BCE and Telus, must provide smaller rivals with wholesale access to their fiber-optic networks in a bid to foster affordable access to high-quality internet services. The order from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, in essence, makes permanent a temporary order issued in November 2023. At the time, BCE responded with plans to curtail planned capital expenditures for the current fiscal year.

Wi-Fi provider Andrena has raised $18 million to develop its plans to provide decentralized broadband. More specifically, the telecommunications firm plans to further develop a decentralized autonomous wireless network (DAWN), which is a variety of decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN). DAWN is already operating in a test environment. If it works as expected, DAWN would enable customers to take advantage of wireless base stations on rooftops, which, when combined, would provide mesh internet access without the need for a centralized internet provider.

The latest example of a broadband/electric partnership — pairing a fiber provider with a utility company for a broadband deployment — comes from Accelecom and the Franklin Electric Plant Board (Franklin EPB). They are joining forces to enable Franklin EPB to deliver high-speed internet services to the businesses and residents of Franklin, Kentucky.

GFiber Labs is on a journey to push speeds to 100 Gig and beyond. Delivering 20 Gig symmetrical speeds was the first stop in pursuing that goal, but journeys are made by next steps. And we recently took that step in our hometown of Kansas City. For the first time ever, GFiber Labs, using Nokia’s technology, tested 50 Gig on a live network. We put Nokia’s 50G PON technology to the test in one of our KC fiber huts (where we house our network equipment).

The digital divide is a global problem. NCTA – the Internet & Television Association released last week a documentary called “Every Last Mile,” which aims to illustrate the challenges ISPs face in building broadband in rural America, but we went a step further. We looked at which broadband and telecommunications startups are tackling connectivity on a global scale.

Open networks apply proven cloud concepts to the networking domain while enabling components to be sourced from a broad ecosystem of vendors. To understand operator progress towards open networks, Analysys Mason surveyed 50 leading Tier-1 operators worldwide between December 2023 and January 2024, and benchmarked operator progress from a vision/strategy perspective and a technical perspective. Findings included: