Masha Abarinova

Google Fiber in May 2023 has picked up steam in its network expansion, announcing several new cities across Idaho, Kansas, Utah, and more. Specifically, Google Fiber has expanded to the following locations:

Chattanooga, Tennessee, is considered ahead of the game with multi-gig connectivity, as in 2022 it introduced citywide 25-gig service for consumers and businesses.

As states prepare to receive their allocations from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, Louisiana is putting the finishing touches on its plan to put that money to work. The state’s broadband office released the first volume of its BEAD proposal, outlining Louisiana’s current efforts to deploy broadband, a breakdown of unserved and underserved locations as well as how it plans to tackle the challenge process.

Frontier Communications said it expects its cost per passing to fall in the $1,000 to $1,100 range in 2023.

Patrick Redmond, Nebraska’s interim broadband director, described his workspace as “an office of one.” Given the Nebraska Broadband Office was just created in January 2023, he said “there’s a big learning curve” in tackling the broadband landscape. One order of business is to get the state’s broadband maps up and running. Redmond said Nebraska has been working with a vendor since February 2023 to develop a map prototype.

Like most states, Ohio has its own approach to bolstering broadband accessibility. One area where Ohio is seeing progress, Lt. Governor Jon Husted (R-OH) said, is in enhancing its broadband workforce. Lt. Gov Husted, who also leads Ohio’s Office of Workforce Transformation, explained Ohio State University (OSU) has developed a curriculum for 5G and high-speed internet expansion, which can be used by other colleges and universities as well as the private sector.

UTOPIA Fiber, an open-access network provider operating in the Western US, disclosed on May 3 that it reaches 55,000 subscribers.

North Carolina-based broadband provider Brightspeed has caught the eye of Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala, which will invest $500 million into the operator. The investment, subject to regulatory approvals and conditions, would make Mubadala a minority shareholder alongside Apollo Global Management, Brightspeed’s parent company.

Windstream is targeting roughly 8,300 additional locations in Georgia with its Kinetic fiber network, thanks to a new public-private partnership with the state’s Union County. The $20.5 million project will provide fiber to homes, businesses, and schools across Blairsville, Suches, and nearby parts of the county. Kinetic plans to lay about 550 miles of underground optical fiber cable for the deployments, which are expected to be completed in 2024. Union County is committing $11.2 million in state grant money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), along with $500,000 in matching funds.

Maine isn’t nearly as far removed as say, Alaska, but it still must cope with broadband challenges stemming from its remote location. Andrew Butcher, president of the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA), named two key hurdles to broadband access in Maine: the sheer rurality of the state and, on a related note, community capacity to drive demand. “There’s a significant amount of space and not enough humans,” Butcher said. “We have the highest concentration of rural population in the country, meaning that the majority of people in the state live in very rural areas.” The state consists of many