![]() |
||
|
||
'Huge opportunity' – Shentel, TDS talk fiber builds, federal fundsThe rural US is on track to get much more fiber over the next several years, as service providers of all shapes and sizes seek federal funds and new opportunities to build, upgrade and expand networks. Two such providers, TDS and Shentel, were represented on a panel this week at the New Street Research and BCG Global Infrastructure Conference. Execs from the telecommunications companies discussed their network deployment and upgrade plans, which both involve federal funding and a firm focus on fiber. Indeed, for Shentel, its decision to deploy fiber is a pivot away from a prior plan to roll out fixed wireless access (FWA). The company announced that it was ditching that plan in favor of fiber back in November 2021 in anticipation of the Biden administration's infrastructure law with funding for broadband. "We believe with the funding that's out there today, that will justify building fiber to the vast majority of the homes we've previously targeted for being fixed wireless," said Edward McKay, EVP and COO of Shentel, during the panel this week. He later added that Shentel doesn't think fixed wireless "competes well with gigabit fiber to the home or gigabit over a DOCSIS system."
As of the end of 2021, Shentel passed roughly 300,000 premises with broadband: 200,000 in its incumbent cable markets, 75,000 in fiber, greenfield-overbuilder markets and 30,000 in fixed wireless markets. While the company expects to make "modest" increases to premises passed with cable over the next five years, "our primary growth will come from our Glo Fiber markets," said McKay. "We're on track to more than double our households passed in our greenfield, fiber-to-the-home overbuilder markets this year, and we plan to grow that to over 450,000 by the end of 2026," he said. McKay added that the company will "likely not" expand fixed wireless beyond the 30,000 premises it passes today. Federal funds Funding for Shentel's fiber expansion thus far has come from state grants in Virginia via the American Rescue Plan (ARP), said McKay. The company is also counting on still-to-be-disbursed infrastructure funds through the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to support its fiber build. While BEAD isn't factored into TDS's current deployments, the company has "plans underway" for going after that funding, said Jim Butman, TDS president and CEO, on the panel. In the meantime, TDS is covering construction with funding from Alternative Connect America Cost Model (ACAM): a $5.283 billion, ten-year FCC program that helps fund carriers' broadband builds in rural, wooded and hilly areas. One of 182 companies receiving ACAM funding, TDS announced in 2017 that it would receive $75.1 million a year for the next ten years to expand and improve broadband service. However, with the fund's support term expiring in 2026, said Butman, "we are working hard with other people similar to us in the industry to lobby for the extension of that ACAM program." Currently, TDS covers 400,000 addresses with fiber and aims to increase coverage to 1.3 million FTTX addresses by 2026. (TDS serves an additional 1 million homes and businesses with an even mix of hybrid fiber-coaxial [HFC] cable and DSL.) With 90% of the company's cable network able to deliver "up to gig speeds," said Butman, TDS is focusing its fiber investments on new neighborhoods "and a few small operations where the HFC plant was so old that it made sense to go all the way to fiber." "We've got a huge opportunity in out-of-territory fiber. That's where our highest priority is," he added. When asked about looming competition from large incumbents like Frontier that are planning to upgrade their copper to fiber in overlapping markets, Butman said that while there's been a lot of discussion of such investments, "we have not yet seen it." "Our modeling and our view is, as long as we get there first we will have a good foothold in that market even if the incumbent comes back later," said Butman. Related posts:
— Nicole Ferraro, site editor, Broadband World News; senior editor, global broadband coverage, Light Reading. Host of "The Divide" on the Light Reading Podcast. |
Latest Articles
Charter has sparked RDOF work in all 24 states where it won bids. The cable op booked about $19 million in RDOF revenues in Q1, and expects to have about $9 million per month come in over the next ten years.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will stage the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half-days in mid-March.
Launch of 2-Gig and 5-Gig FTTP tiers in 70-plus markets puts more pressure on cable ops to enhance their existing DOCSIS 3.1 network or accelerate their upgrade activity centered on the new DOCSIS 4.0 specs.
Ziply Fiber, an operator that tangles with Comcast and Charter, has launched two multi-gigabit tiers in 60 urban areas, aiming for all markets by Q2 2022.
Elon Musk's nascent broadband will need to radically accelerate the rate of satellite launches – and navigate tricky supply chain logistics – if it's going to come close to fulfilling its global ambition.
Industry Announcements
![]() ![]() >>
![]() ARCHIVED
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
12:00 p.m. New York Did you know that fiber network expansion is the top priority of service providers over the next five years according to Heavy Reading’s recently published State of the Service Provider Report*? With this rapid expansion comes increased competition. Like many service providers, you may be feeling the pressure to differentiate your brand. Service innovation is your opportunity to stand out.
|
|
![]() |
Broadband World News
About Us
Advertise With Us
Contact Us
Help
Register
Twitter
Facebook
RSS
Copyright © 2022 Light Reading, part of Informa Tech, a division of Informa PLC. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Terms of Use in partnership with
|