Infrastructure

An appealing way to finance fiber builds is through asset-backed securities (ABS). However, this is only available to established companies that actually have fiber assets, which they can leverage to secure a lower cost of debt. It’s not something available to new entrants in the fiber space. Since the introduction of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, many private equity (PE) investors have entered the fiber market.

Lawmakers are butting heads over a provision within the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program that allows states to require low-cost service options from participating service providers. Democrats are calling it an affordability policy. Republicans say it's heavy-handed government regulation. As part of the BEAD planning process, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is considering each state’s definition of a low-cost option, provided that it meets the standards laid out in the program’s statute.

Evan Feinman, director for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, provided an update on the program. All states have submitted their Volume 1 proposals to NTIA, and Feinman said that nearly all Volume 1 proposals are approved. A check of NTIA’s Progress Dashboard today shows that only Florida, Maryland and Minnesota have yet to have their Volume 1s approved.

I have been asked my opinion several times about Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) amnesty—letting RDOF winners walk away from their obligations without big penalties. There is no easy answer to the question. It’s certainly a timely topic, since we are seeing internet service providers (ISPs) walk away from RDOF. There are several good arguments to be made that favor some kind of amnesty.

Governor Moore (D-MD) announced $19.6 million in Fiscal Year 2024 awards through a new Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development program to help more Marylanders access high-speed, affordable internet. Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties, administered by the department’s Office of Statewide Broadband, will provide internet access to approximately 2,400 unserved Maryland households in its first round. Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties is part of the department’s new initiative to serve remaining Maryland households without internet access.

Forty-four addresses in two rural areas of York County (SC) have gained access to Comporium’s fiber-based multi-gigabit internet service. Over the past few months, Comporium placed two miles of fiber-optic network to reach addresses off Hands Mill Highway and Kingsburry Road. This project, extending the company’s fiber-optic network, provides customers the ability to access internet speeds of up to five Gigabits per second. Comporium continues to work with state and federal agencies to find ways to upgrade service to more rural customers.

FOCUS Broadband is accepting orders for high-speed internet service in the first phases of their Perquimans County (NC) broadband project. In 2022, FOCUS Broadband partnered with Perquimans County government to apply for a grant through the North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant Program.

Some $100 billion in U.S. broadband investment will be spent in rural areas before the end of the decade to close the digital divide. Yet industry leaders warn that a middle mile gap will remain if we aren’t careful.

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides $42.45 billion in grant funding to states via the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD). IIJA also underscores that any state receiving these funds may not exclude local governments from applying to use these funds to build their own broadband networks.

Brightspeed launched a high-speed internet service that it hopes to reach 160,000 homes and small businesses in Johnson City, Elizabethton, Kingsport, and other surrounding communities in Tennessee. Brightspeed, which is headquartered in Charlotte (NC), is currently the nation’s fourth-largest fiber broadband builder. The company is looking to fill a need in a market where one in 10 Tennessee residents do not have access to high-speed internet. Brightspeed was one of the recipients of $162.7 million in state broadband grants that were announced by Gov.