The Broadband Communities list of fiber-to-the-home leaders and innovators for 2023
“Building a Fiber-Connected World” is the Broadband Communities magazine tagline. Each year, the Fiber-To-The-Home Top 100 list recognizes organizations that lead the way in this endeavor. Pigtail Fiber Optic
Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment in the U.S. continues to outpace legacy copper broadband, a trend impacting service providers and vendor suppliers.
In its “2023–2024 North American Fiber Broadband Report: FTTH and 5G Review and Forecast,” RVA predicts more than 100 million fiber passings in the U.S. over the next decade. The count is in addition to the estimated 68 million U.S. homes already passed with FTTH: 63 million unique homes, excluding homes passed twice or more. The research firm predicted that the additional passings would include reaching a high percentage of primary residences, homes passed by two or more fiber providers in specific demographics, and second homes/short-term rental homes.
Barring significant unforeseen economic or geopolitical disruption, for the coming five-year forecast period (2023–2027), RVA estimates U.S. capital investment in FTTH will surpass $135 billion – exceeding all investment in FTTH that has occurred to date. Despite the reductions some providers announced from the original projections for 2023, RVA forecasts a record annual FTTH build.
Michael Render, CEO of RVA, said one of the “underlying drivers for the unprecedented build cycle” is that “consumers respond to and churn toward fiber providers whenever fiber is available.”
Network equipment providers are reaping the benefits. Dell’Oro Group reported that total global revenue for the broadband access equipment market increased to $4.6 billion in the first quarter of 2023, up seven percent year over year. Spending on infrastructure remained robust, but ONTs, modems and other customer premises equipment (CPE) units to connect broadband subscribers dropped seven percent year over year. “For many service providers, broadband subscriber growth is slowing, resulting in a reduced need for new CPE,” said Jeff Heynen, vice president of Dell’Oro Group. “Meanwhile, infrastructure purchases are strong as providers continue to expand their footprints and replace legacy copper networks.”
Nevertheless, service providers continue to take advantage of the FTTH opportunity. The three largest telcos – AT&T, Verizon and Quantum Fiber – are expanding their FTTH footprints.
AT&T aims to reach more than 30 million customer locations by the end of 2025. The telco reported it had 272,000 AT&T Fiber net adds in the first quarter of 2023. AT&T said it experienced 13 straight quarters with more than 200,000 net fiber broadband subscriber adds. Quantum Fiber, Lumen’s FTTH unit, plans to expand service to 18 cities. The company indicated it is on track to connect more than 500,000 homes and small businesses this year. Verizon experienced 67,000 Fios Internet net additions in 2023, an increase from 60,000 net additions in the first quarter of 2022.
Also entering the mix in a big way is Brightspeed. The company, now the fifth-largest ILEC, was formed when Apollo Global Management purchased ILEC assets and associated operations across 20 states from Lumen Technologies for $7.5 billion. Its service territory encompasses more than 6.5 million locations in mainly rural and suburban communities across the Midwest, Southeast and parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Serving more than 1 million customers in these areas, primarily through its existing broadband network, the provider plans to serve 3 million homes and businesses over the next five years.
Smaller telcos, such as Consolidated Communications and Lumos, continue progressing with FTTH. Consolidated is expanding its FTTH presence throughout California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont. Lumos services more than 200,000 homes and businesses across North Carolina and Virginia.
Cable operators and competitors such as Altice USA and Ting Internet are pushing more FTTH in their markets. Altice USA total fiber broadband customers reached 210,000 as of the end of the first quarter of 2023. At the same time, Ting is expanding its presence in new cities such as Alexandria, Virginia; Carlsbad, California; and Mesa, Arizona, through its partnership with Ubiquity.
Companies newly added or reinstated to the list represent a variety of niches. Because the Top 100 list represents an ecosystem of players, this year’s list includes entities representing service providers, hardware/software, fiber cabling, engineering/consulting and network planning/construction: Brightspeed, Ciena, Frontier, Hexatronic, Michael Baker International, Shentel and Velox.
In addition to the new entrants, several other companies either changed names or were acquired. USTC, which has been building its company via acquisitions of other companies, was renamed Netceed.
Another key trend was mergers and acquisitions across two domains: service providers and FTTH network equipment. As mentioned previously, Brightspeed was born when Apollo Global Management purchased assets from Lumen. Ciena, a household name in the optical and network routing/switching space, staked a position in the FTTH equipment market when it purchased Tibit Communications and Benu Networks.
In selecting the FTTH Top 100, the editors looked for organizations that advance the cause of fiber-based broadband by
To be listed among the FTTH Top 100, an organization may be based anywhere in the world but must do business in North America. Except for broadband service providers, which inherently are local, Broadband Communities prefers organizations that serve national rather than local markets. Overall size is unimportant as is corporate form – in addition to for-profit companies, the list includes municipalities, an electric cooperative, construction companies, independent telcos and a nonprofit research organization.
Although some organizations on the list focus entirely on fiber to the premises (FTTP) or other fiber-based broadband technologies, most deliver or support a mix of broadband technologies. For some, broadband represents only a tiny part of their business. In making these selections, the editors considered how vital the organizations are to advance fiber broadband rather than how important broadband is to them.
Distributors of Fiber Optic Products Network Planning, Systems Integration, Design, Engineering, Construction, Installation Fiber and Fiber Cable Fiber-to-the-Home Electronics Network Testing, Monitoring and Management Services Optical LAN Solutions FTTH Construction Equipment Network Management Solutions Test and Measurement Equipment Passive Components for FTTH Networks Network Planning and Design Solutions Network Deployers and Service Providers
The FTTH Top 100 list was researched by Rachel Ellner and Kassandra Kania and overseen by editor-in-chief Sean Buckley. To nominate a company for next year’s FTTH Top 100, email top100@bbcmag.com.
www.3-gis.com 256-560-0744
Services/Products: Web-based tools and services for telecom asset mapping, fiber network design and network management
3-GIS, an SSP Innovations company, provides software and services to manage physical and modeling networks. The name refers to the third generation of GIS – shifting from paper drawings to CAD-enabled desktop systems to a web-based platform that enables enterprise collaboration and network data quality control and updating. The company’s software and services provide anywhere, anytime access, geospatial data and mapping, network connections and logic visibility, an adaptable data model, and enterprise data access through a configurable interface. Customers worldwide, ranging from Tier-1 service providers to municipal utilities, use 3-GIS | Network Solutions to improve speed to activation and achieve greater utilization of their fiber network assets. 3-GIS has assisted successful bidders in the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program for three years with their FTTx deployments. Built upon Esri’s ArcGIS Enterprise, 3-GIS’s complete suite of applications includes 3-GIS | Web, a browser-based application that provides real-time, multiuser asset editing and signal path insight; 3-GIS | Mobile, which puts network data directly into the hands of field crews, on or offline; 3-GIS | Prospector and 3-GIS | Network Express, Web extensions that automate network planning and design; and 3-GIS | Admin, a browser-based configuration console that enables the creation of rules and guidelines defining access and use.
The company also provides various support services, including design automation, data migration and conversion, and project management. 3-GIS Engineering Services provides a specialized team of OSP experts to assist network planning and operations. Last year, other software providers, such as Communications Data Group (CDG), announced tighter integration between CDG’s MBS consumer and enterprise billing and OSS solution and 3-GIS’s fiber network management software. 3-GIS also added new features to its network planning, design, drawing and management operations tool, Fischer. Version 4 allows users to take advantage of augmented system security and streamlined performance. The company is headquartered in the Huntsville, Alabama, area, and has about 200 employees worldwide to support its global customer base. SSP Innovations, a provider of GIS solutions for the utility and telecom industries, wholly own the company.
www.adtran.com 256-963-8000
Services/Products: 10G FTTH, fiber access, fiber extension platforms, intelligent SaaS applications, connected home and business network solutions, managed mesh Wi-Fi, open SDN network control and service orchestration, open optical networking technology, network infrastructure and assurance solutions, network security, timing and synchronization technology
Adtran, based in the U.S., is a global supplier of fiber networking solutions that simplify the connectivity of residential, enterprise and 5G sites to high-speed networks. Adtran has more than 500 customers in North America, from the optical core to the customer premises. Customers include a diverse mix of telecom service providers, cable MSOs, utilities and municipalities. Adtran’s fiber networking portfolio comprises optical transport solutions, fiber access platforms and residential and business subscriber platforms. These are complemented by AI-driven software platforms that turn data insights into actionable intelligence to automate and optimize end-to-end proactively fiber infrastructure and customer premises networks. These software platforms include cloud-based applications and subscriber self-service applications that significantly reduce overall network support costs while enhancing the subscriber experience. These solutions are backed by a full range of turnkey services and support to simplify and accelerate such networks’ design, deployment and ongoing maintenance.
Regional network operators and community broadband providers have increasingly selected the Adtran end-to-end fiber broadband solution to unlock their communities’ potential. Recently, Talkie Communications chose Adtran’s broadband platform to close the connectivity gap in Maryland. USA Communications also announced that it uses Adtran’s XGS-PON solution to help bridge the digital divide in Iowa. Over the past few months, the company launched several new products, including a new OLT that will bring energy-efficient, multi-gigabit broadband to homes and businesses. Based in Huntsville, Alabama, Adtran reported revenues of $1.02 billion in 2022.
“This is an unprecedented time in the communications industry. With broadband becoming an essential service and with more than $100 billion dollars of government funding designed to bridge the digital divide, the chance to deliver high-speed broadband to all Americans is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. With a broadband portfolio consisting of next-generation access edge, optical transport and cloud-connected software solutions, DZS is well positioned to support communities across the country and help improve their lives from an educational, economic and social perspective.” — Charlie Vogt, CEO, DZS
www.aflglobal.com 864-433-0333; 800-235-3423
Services/Products: Fiber optic cable and connectivity, outside-plant fiber and electrical conductor hardware, fusion splicers, test and inspection equipment, training, design, engineering, integration
AFL’s Converged Access Network solution helps customers build expandable, flexible, accessible networks for 5G wireless fronthaul/backhaul, FTTH/business, multiple dwelling units/multiple tenant units (MXU), campuses, venues, enterprises and central offices. The company’s product offering includes Wrapping Tube Cable powered by SpiderWeb Ribbon (SWR), the ASCEND high-density platform, splice closures such as Apex, Fujikura fusion splicers, test equipment and more. This year, AFL enhances fiber preparation and protection for fusion splicing with Fujikura’s new lineup of specialty fusion splicing accessories. AFL has service and engineering expertise to help customers plan, design, build and maintain communications networks, offering FTTx and MDU solutions for master-planned community networks serviced by telephone, cable TV and wireless providers; utilities/electric cooperatives; and industrial companies and enterprises. The company continues to build on its core innovation strategy. In 2022, AFL was awarded five new patents for technology, connectivity and fiber optic cable developments. The company also joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program as a partner to improve energy efficiency and fight climate change. The 2023 Lightwave Innovation Reviews recognized AFL’s test and inspection products were recognized as among the best. Founded in 1984, AFL is a division of Fujikura Ltd. and is headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The company has more than 6,000 associates worldwide and operates in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia.
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www.alianza.com 801-802-6400
Services/Products: Cloud-based VoIP platform
Phone service remains a high-margin service offering, and there are many growth opportunities with cloud communications and UCaaS for business customers. For new service providers, using a cloud-based system is the simplest, most economical way to add a voice offering. Many established operators expanding with fiber broadband also look to transform, embrace digital transformation and replace legacy networks. Alianza addresses both needs. The Alianza Cloud Communications Platform is a web-scale VoIP software-as-a-service solution built for broadband providers. It provides a feature-rich, high-quality portfolio of residential and business VoIP services. The platform does not require capital expenditure or equipment installation, and Alianza alleviates most operational and regulatory burdens associated with phone services.
Since announcing a solution specifically for FTTH providers in February 2017, Alianza has made inroads with electric cooperatives, new overbuilder ISPs and municipalities that deliver fiber broadband to their communities; more than 200 ISPs, with more than 500,000 subscribers, use the Alianza platform.
New customers announced in the last year plus include: Lumen Technologies, Brightspeed, Schurz Communications, VARCOMM and Choptank Fiber. In December 2022, the company announced it is committing $200 million to innovation over the next five years to further help its customers grow. In April 2023, Alianza introduced a feature-rich cloud PBX solution for Mircosoft Teams. Founded in 2009 and with headquarters in Pleasant Grove, Utah, Alianza has more than 280 employees.
www.allocommunications.com 866-481-2556; 855-632-3154
Services/Products: Internet access, Metro Ethernet, phone, TV and video services
Founded in Imperial, Nebraska, in 2003, ALLO Communications and its 1,300-plus team members serve communities in Nebraska, Colorado and Arizona with competitive fiber broadband services. ALLO has been recognized with local and national awards for being among the fastest ISPs in the U.S. for more than five years. Because of its efforts to hire veterans, the company received the 2022 Gold Medallion HIRE Vets Award. Several current projects involve partnerships with city governments. Breckenridge, Colorado, selected ALLO as the service provider for its Fiber9600 infrastructure project, which began connecting homes in late 2019. In Lincoln, Nebraska, ALLO leased city conduits, extended the conduit system into residential neighborhoods, and built fiber to the home. ALLO provides more than 77 nonprofit organizations with 10 years of free internet service and leased the city-owned fiber network in Fort Morgan, Colorado, to deliver broadband services. In 2021, ALLO announced a fiber-to-the-premises project offering 10G bandwidth in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and this year, it began constructing a fiber optic network in Gretna, Nebraska. The company also implemented an automated customer complaint resolution system created by five University of Nebraska–Lincoln students that expedites construction questions or concerns internally and for the community.
www.altafiber.com 513-566-4101; 888-246-2355
Services/Products: Telephone, data, video, wireless and information technology solutions
In March 2022, Cincinnati Bell announced it would begin doing business as altafiber to reflect the company’s geographic growth beyond its Greater Cincinnati footprint and its ongoing investment in the fiber network. The company and its consolidated subsidiaries provide integrated communications and IT solutions. During 2020, the company passed an additional 13,600 addresses in the Greater Cincinnati area with Fioptics, which focused on fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) addresses because FTTP has become a more relevant solution for its customers. As of March 31, 2023, Fioptics FTTH products are available to approximately 310,000 customers in Greater Cincinnati. In 2023, the company passed an additional 284.4 addresses with fiber and currently serves 75,000 customers in Hawaii. The consumer/SMB fiber products are available to approximately 254,300 addresses, or 50 percent of the operating territory in Hawaii, including Oahu and neighboring islands.
In 2020, the company also invested $25 million in enterprise fiber products, including fiber- and IP-based core network technology. The investment positioned the company to meet increased business and carrier demand within Greater Cincinnati and adjacent markets in the Midwest region. In Hawaii, expenditures are for high-bandwidth data transport products, such as Metro Ethernet and U.S. cable. altafiber continues to evolve and optimize network assets to support migrating legacy products to new technology. This year, Butler County and altafiber announced a partnership that will bring high-speed fiber internet access to approximately 60,000 addresses over the next 36 to 48 months. In addition, through a public-private partnership with Warren County (Ohio), altafiber will deliver fiber to about 52,000 addresses and is expected to complete the project by the end of 2026. Last year, altafiber closed its acquisition of Agile Network Builders. This company based in Canton, Ohio, leases wireless infrastructure assets to third parties and provides connectivity through hybrid fiber wireless data networks in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The company also committed to a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
www.alticeusa.com 516-803-2300
Services/Products: Internet, video and voice services
Altice USA is one of the most extensive broadband communications and video services providers in the U.S. It delivers broadband, video, mobile and home phone services to approximately 4.9 million residential and business customers across 21 states through its Optimum brand.
The company continues to expand its 100 percent Optimum Fiber Internet network, available at more than 2 million passings and counting, and continues to roll out faster speeds, bringing symmetrical, multi-gigabit speeds of up to 5 Gbps to homes and businesses across its fiber footprint in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The company also recently debuted an 8 Gbps service over its fiber internet network. Optimum offers 1G speeds to most of its footprint, and continues to invest in and upgrade its hybrid fiber-coaxial network through DOCSIS 3.1 upgrades to bring network improvements and speed upgrades to other communities. In addition, the company offers mobile service through Optimum Mobile, delivered over T-Mobile’s award-winning 5G network, which the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) voted No. 1 in customer satisfaction in 2022. Optimum also delivers an enhanced video service, Stream, which brings customers robust Optimum TV lineups alongside their favorite streaming apps, powered by a voice remote and with advanced features such as 4K streaming and more.
The company remains active in the communities it serves through various community partnerships and programs, notably its continued partnership with education nonprofit organization DonorsChoose, which funds classroom projects in public schools across Optimum’s service areas, and its participation in the Chamber of Commerce Coalition to Back Black Businesses initiative, which provides grants, resources and mentorship opportunities to Black small-business owners across the country.
Headquartered in Long Island City, New York, Altice USA serves 5 million customers in 21 states and posted $9.6 billion in 2022 revenue.
www.amphenol.com 203-265-8900
Services/Products: Fiber distribution solutions, fiber optic enclosures
Amphenol is one of the world’s largest high-technology interconnect, sensor and antenna solutions. Its products enable the electronics revolution across various end markets, including automotive, broadband communications, commercial aerospace, industrial, information technology and data communications, military, mobile devices and mobile networks. In 2022, the company expanded its SURLOK Plus series to include 8.0mm and 10.3mm right-angle connectors with a voltage range of 1500VDC to meet energy storage requirements and high-power connections and transfers. In 2019, Amphenol acquired Charles Industries, a manufacturer of integrated environmental housings and enclosures for wireless, telecom and broadband service providers. In 2021, the company acquired Halo Technology Limited, a provider of active and passive fiber optic interconnect components and announced its development of 112 Gbps interconnect technology with eTopus products for high-speed IP solutions. This year, Amphenol is bringing on NuCurrent, the global authority in wireless power systems, as a strategic IP partner. This partnership will address the urgent, industrywide need for product developers to shift toward the new Qi2 standard. Founded in 1932, Amphenol trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker APH and had sales of $12.6 billion in 2022. The company is headquartered in Wallingford, Connecticut, and has more than 80,000 employees worldwide.
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www.att.com/att/multifamily-property
Services/Products: High-speed internet, voice, next-generation TV, advanced mobile services
AT&T is the nation’s most extensive fiber internet provider. At the end of the company’s first quarter in 2023, AT&T could serve 19.7 million locations, and AT&T Fiber’s total subscriber base totaled about 7.5 million. AT&T CEO John Stankey said it will have more “flexibility to invest in 5G and fiber to support the growing long-term demand for reliable high-speed connectivity.” The telco enhanced its suite of fiber speed tiers in January 2022 by adding 2 and 5 Gbps plans.
AT&T and BlackRock formed the Gigapower joint venture that will provide a fiber network using a commercial wholesale open-access platform in parts of select metro areas across the U.S. The Gigapower fiber deployment will be incremental to AT&T’s plans to pass 30 million-plus fiber locations, including businesses, by the end of 2025. Last year, Boonville, Indiana, announced a $4.4 million project with AT&T to build its state-of-the-art fiber network to more than 4,000 customer locations throughout the city. The company also launched fiber broadband in rural Vanderburgh County, Indiana. As of the end of 2022, AT&T expanded fiber access to more than 500,000 Louisiana customers in communities across the state. This year, AT&T partnered with the South Carolina Broadband Office to extend fiber to more than 9,000 additional customer locations in Greenville and Charleston. Through AT&T Connected Communities, the telco works with multifamily and single-family builders, developers, management groups and homeowners associations to provide internet services. AT&T’s consolidated reported revenue for 2022 was $120.7 billion. At the end of the company’s first quarter of 2023, AT&T reported more than 157,000 employees.
www.ibhc.com 913-663-1900
Services/Products: Planning, design and construction of FTTx projects
BHC (formerly BHC Rhodes) provides civil engineering services for public utilities and private firms that build and maintain fiber networks across the U.S. BHC has designed and managed thousands of miles of telecom network infrastructure for clients that range from small communities to sizable international service providers. The company’s FTTx services include feasibility studies, cost estimates and budgets; planning, layout and network architecture; and GIS and AutoCAD mapping. In April 2023, BHC acquired the family-owned Savoy Company, a decades-old surveying firm.
BHC’s outside-plant design, site and route surveys include the 2,200-mile Long Haul Fiber Program project study crossing seven states. BHC determined two route options, performed preliminary data gathering, conducted an environmental review, identified agencies along the potential route, determined the underlying rights of the proposed public roads, and completed a field review. The company established unit prices for constructing the final courses and comparing the two route options. BHC also handles pole surveys, right-of-way permitting and asset management. The firm is based in Overland Park, Kansas, with additional offices in Kansas City, Wichita, El Dorado, and Kensington – all in Kansas. BHC was founded in 1992 and has about 150 employees.
www.biarrinetworks.com 303-524-1710
Services/Products: Software and services for FTTx design automation, network planning, outside-plant engineering, mapping
Biarri Networks helps ISPs, utility service providers, telcos, engineering firms, and consultants design and build fiber, fixed wireless, and mobile wireless networks worldwide. The company also launched the first-ever web-based tool of its kind: Fiber Optic Network Design (FOND), a web/cloud-based optimization and collaboration platform for digital engineering, planning and design. In October 2022, Dura-Line, the broadband networking component of worldwide utility developer Orbia, acquired Biarri. Founded in Australia in 2009, Biarri has more recently been headquartered in Denver.
The company continues to roll out new updates for FOND, which clients and Biarri’s team of experts use to design and detail networks of all sizes in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and around the world. Most are 5G cellular or fiber broadband. The goal has been to “simplify and accelerate the work of upgrading and building telecommunications networks across the globe” and to “break down the complex problems of large-scale telecom network construction, beginning with data gathering and design and ending with final deployment.”
www.bv.com 913-458-2000
Services/Products: Consulting, engineering, construction, operations, program management
Black & Veatch is a 100-percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, Black & Veatch has helped clients improve people’s lives worldwide by addressing the resilience and reliability of the most important infrastructure assets. Specializing in telecommunications, energy, water and government services, the company has around 10,000 professionals in more than 100 offices worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries. Black & Veatch has deployed more than 50,000 miles of fiber for commercial carriers, cities and utilities. The KentuckyWired middle-mile network, the commonwealth of Kentucky’s public infrastructure project, comprises approximately 3,400 miles of fiber and provides high-speed, high-capacity internet service to every county in the state. In 2023, Black & Veatch’s telecommunications business was ranked No. 5 by Engineering News-Record. Revenue in 2022 was $4.3 billion.
www.brightspeed.com 833-692-7773
Services/Products: Internet, video, voice services for residential and business customers
As the nation’s fifth-largest ILEC, Brightspeed, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, serves 6.5 million locations in mainly rural and suburban communities across the Midwest, Southeast, and parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The company was formed through Apollo Global Management’s acquisition of Lumen’s ILEC assets and all associated operations across 20 states for $7.5 billion. Leveraging its local fiber and copper network mix, Brightspeed provides internet and voice offerings to residential and small business customers. Earlier this year, Mubadala Investment Company announced plans to invest $500 million in Brightspeed to become a minority shareholder. Founded by Bob Mudge, Chris Creager and Tom Maguire – three telecom industry veterans who oversaw Verizon’s fiber-based Fios service – the provider set an aggressive plan to build out fiber broadband to 1 million new fiber passings across 17 states during the initial phase of construction.
Brightspeed intends to invest more than $2 billion to build a network that will bring faster internet and Wi-Fi to the areas it serves. Brightspeed’s planned fiber network transformation is expected to reach up to 3 million homes and businesses over the next five years, including many places where fiber has not historically been deployed to deliver broadband service.
Because Brightspeed is an emerging provider, it can leverage XGS-PON – the latest PON iteration to support 10 Gbps – and Wi-Fi 6. Brightspeed offers high-speed connectivity, voice, networking and managed services for enterprise and wholesale customers. It has partnered with cloud provider Alianza to deliver voice and unified communications services to residential and small-business customers to further its service appeal.
www.cspire.com/home-services 855-438-1009
Services/Products: Gigabit-speed internet access, live streaming video, digital home phone and smart-home services delivered over a fiber-based network
C Spire is building a fiber-based broadband network in Mississippi to attract investment and economic growth and pave the way for improvements in health care, education, civic life, business development and expansion, and municipal services. C Spire Home is taking its gigabit FTTH platform to Saltillo and Gulfport, Mississippi, and plans to add Biloxi to cover roughly 78,000 new households. Using a demand-based model, C Spire Home Services – the company’s residential broadband unit – expanded to 20 markets at the end of 2019. In addition to its fiber builds, C Spire advanced its network reach through electric utility partnerships with Entergy and Alabama Power. It completed an $11 million infrastructure project with Entergy, which serves 2.9 million electric customers. This agreement enables it to offer broadband services to some of Mississippi’s most isolated rural areas. C Spire signed a similar partnership with Alabama Power to supply fiber-based internet in Birmingham and other parts of Alabama last year. The provider will use a demand aggregation model in Alabama to help gauge community interest and guide decisions on broadband deployment.
New and existing customers can take advantage of its Smart Wi-Fi solution. Powered by smart-home services provider Plume, Smart Wi-Fi improves coverage and offers online security. Alabama communities are seeing multiple construction starts and deployments after C Spire announced a $1 billion investment to speed up the availability of FTTH networks. Over five years, about $500 million is marked for fiber expansion in Alabama. In April 2021, the company began construction on an FTTH network in Tuscaloosa County and was accepting consumer preorders. Construction also started in the north Shelby County cities of Helena and Pelham, with Alabaster expected to start soon, and the company began connecting customers in Jasper. Construction began in Homewood, Alabama, and Greenwood in Leflore County, the company’s first Mississippi Delta market. Construction is also expected to start in Brookhaven, Mississippi. In 2023, C Spire announced the rollout of its multi-gig service, offering 2 and 8 Gbps internet options for residential customers. C Spire is headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
www.calix.com 408-514-3000; 877-766-3500
Services/Products: Fiber access solutions for residential and business services, managed home Wi-Fi with value-added subscriber experience applications, network and services management software
With about 1,800 customers worldwide, Calix serves a wide range of North American FTTx providers (and a growing international clientele) with fiber access and home Wi-Fi solutions. New customers in 2022 include Brightspeed, GTC Broadband and SCTelcom. Since 2017, Calix has leveraged its transformation from providing wireline access systems to offering software platforms, cloud analytics and value-added subscriber experiences that enable local and regional broadband service providers to compete with national carriers.
Its GigaPro p6he hardened outdoor Wi-Fi 6E system has BBF.398 Grade Wi-Fi industry performance benchmark recognition from the Broadband Forum. The Intelligent Access EDGE allows broadband service providers to combine multiple network elements into a single system using specialized software modules to add functionality. Calix Operations Cloud lets broadband providers more effectively monitor network performance and more efficiently address performance issues. For example, Calix Marketing Cloud, Support Cloud and Calix Intelligent Access EDGE and Revenue EDGE solutions go beyond routine broadband traffic management to network security (ProtectIQ), parental controls and cyberbullying (ExperienceIQ). The Experience Innovation Platform, a unique hybrid cloud-premises software platform that supports residential and small business subscribers, powers the Calix Revenue EDGE Systems and third-party CPE. Most recently, it powered out-of-the-box integration of other software, such as Constant Contact, for marketing.
The AXOS platform at the core of the Intelligent Access EDGE allows software functions in the access network to run independently of the underlying hardware; about 1,000 independent application modules run on AXOS. Calix’s AXOS systems power Verizon’s strategic One Fiber initiative to move residential, business and mobile transport services into a converged NG-PON2 network. To help service providers transition to SDN-orchestrated automation, Calix introduced the AXOS SMx access domain controller that enables providers to deploy SDN-automated workflows and simultaneously interface with existing back-office systems. Pandemic broadband needs and increased revenue from regional carriers at a time of expanding federal funding is powering growth. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Calix had $868 million in revenues in 2022, up almost 28 percent from 2021. It credits its “physical” product line simplification as it consolidates and standardizes equipment offerings and becomes more software-based. Even so, net income declined to $41 million as it added almost 500 employees (to 1,426) at the end of 2022. It was named the best company to work for in the San Francisco Bay area this year.
www.ccgcomm.com 202-255-7689
Services/Products: Regulatory, engineering, marketing, strategy and planning services; raising money for broadband projects
In business since 1997, CCG is a full-service consultant for small communications carriers. The company specializes in launching new broadband ventures and making existing businesses more profitable. CCG offers a wide range of regulatory, engineering, strategy and planning, operations and budgeting and billing services. The company helps clients design, upgrade and maximize fiber, coaxial, copper and wireless networks. CCG also offers direct operational assistance in number portability, new product development, cable programming, carrier disputes and billing audits. It is active in helping companies create workable, public-private partnerships and secure funds for broadband projects – a specialty for which demand is growing. CCG continues to work on numerous feasibility studies for communities of all sizes and is helping several communities build and launch new broadband businesses.
Services/Products: Advanced broadband solutions, including advanced community Wi-Fi, coax and fiber solutions, streaming video and traditional video solutions
Charter Communications, Inc. is a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator serving more than 32 million customers in 41 states through its Spectrum brand. Over an advanced communications network, the company offers a full range of state-of-the-art residential and business services, including Spectrum Internet, TV, mobile and voice. Charter is investing more than $5 billion through its rural broadband deployment initiative to bring reliable, gigabit-speed internet access to more than 1 million currently unserved families and small businesses.
Spectrum Community Solutions, Charter’s brand dedicated to multifamily properties, delivers industry-leading broadband connectivity solutions to apartments, single-family gated communities, off-campus student housing, senior residences and RV parks and marinas. Services offered by Spectrum Community Solutions include internet speeds up to 1 Gbps, propertywide Wi-Fi coverage, traditional and streaming video packages, and customized fiber and coaxial solutions for new construction and established communities. To assist customers, Spectrum Community Solutions provides dedicated phone support for property managers and 24/7 customer service from four U.S.-based call centers. Customers can manage their Spectrum accounts and services from anywhere with Charter’s top-rated support app, the My Spectrum App.
www.chrsolutions.com 713-351-5111
Services/Products: Engineering, network planning, GIS asset tracking and design, managed NOC and IT services, security, communications billing software, loan and grant application services
CHR, founded almost 75 years ago, is a broadband systems provider enabling clients to quickly grow their networks and customer bases. It offers a range of engineering, business and technology solutions that support better broadband for telecoms, electric co-ops, utilities, tribal operators, and municipalities nationwide. Services include preparing applications for loans and grants; broadband planning; performing high-level, detailed, outside-plant design for FTTx networks; permitting; converting GIS/CAD files and implementing outside plant.
CHR Engineering specializes in PON and active Ethernet fiber design but has expertise in other communications technologies, including fixed wireless. CHR provides security monitoring, billing, customer management, business and network operations(B/OSS) and outsourced managed IT/NOC services. The evolution of the B/OSS product continues. Its Omnia360 customer management functionality (powered by Microsoft Dynamics SL) enables handling rapid customer growth. The system also includes real-time analytics to support better business intelligence and easy implementation of subscription-based prepaid services. The company is headquartered in Houston.
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800-921-1144 www.ciena.com
Services/Products: Networking systems, services and software
Ciena develops and markets equipment, software and services for the telecommunications industry and large cloud service firms. The company’s network equipment includes optical network switches and routing platforms to manage data load on telecom networks. Telecom companies use the Blue Planet software platform for programming communications networks, including network automation. Ciena is a household name in optical networking and Ethernet switching, and the vendor moved to take advantage of the growing 10G XGS-PON market by purchasing Tibit Communications and Benu Networks in 2022.
In addition to expanding Ciena’s presence in 10 XGS-PON, these acquisitions will strengthen its existing relationships with Tier-1 telcos and cable operators for switching, routing and optical transport. Both companies bring something to the table for the FTTH market. Tibit combines PON-specific hardware and OS into a micro pluggable transceiver easily integrated into a carrier-grade Ethernet switch or router. Tibit’s open, micro plug technology also enables rapid PON deployment in any environment. Benu has developed a portfolio of cloud-native software solutions, including a virtual Broadband Network Gateway ((v)BNG), enabling Ciena to deliver a single solution that integrates routing, OLT, subscriber management and network services. Ciena reported $3.6 billion in 2022 revenue. Led by president and CEO Gary Smith, Ciena has more than 8,000 employees.
“At Michael Baker International, we believe broadband enables Americans to participate in an increasingly digital world actively. The digital economy, health care, government entities and all future digital applications will rely on broadband to function appropriately.” —Elio Zamora, National Broadband Director, Michael Baker International
www.seeclearfield.com 763-476-6866; 800-422-2537
Services/Products: Fiber distribution and protection systems for inside plant, outside plant and access networks
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Clearfield designs and manufactures fiber management, protection and delivery products that accelerate fiber services activation. The company’s product lines include FieldSmart fiber frames and panels for the inside plant and FieldSmart fiber distribution hubs for the outside plant; FieldShield optical fiber delivery and protection platform made of the microduct and pre-connectorized pushable fiber; and the YOURx platform, which accepts multiple types of drop cable media into terminals and access boxes. The modular architecture of the Clearfield product lines offers integration with the Clearview Cassette 12-fiber management system for a reduced inventory, building-block product platform.
In 2020, Clearfield introduced three products to accelerate fiber deployments and reduce material and labor costs: the FieldSmart Fiber Active Cabinet for outdoor enclosures; the StreetSmart Fiber Hand-Off Box for fiber-based 5G deployments; and its Home Deployment Kits, allowing DIY customers to complete the fiber connection from outside the home to the customer premises.
In 2022, the company introduced the FieldSmart 96-Port PON Cabinet for rural deployments and the FastPass approach to fiber distribution using in-cassette splicing to speed up Fiber Distribution Hub (FDH) cabinet installation times. This year, Clearfield announced the SeeChange terminal and hardened connector system to help operators speed fiber deployments as FTTx and 5G networks increase. It also reached a milestone of supplying more than 50 million fiber ports of its labor-lite family of Clearview Cassettes, FieldShield Assemblies and YOURx Terminals.
In addition to enhancing its product line, Clearfield expanded its manufacturing plant in Tijuana, Mexico, completing a new 100,000-square-foot facility to support multistate regional telco providers and operators. In 2021, Clearfield partnered with Prysmian Group, Dura-Line, Oldcastle Infrastructure and Primex to launch the FiberONE program, offering a broadband infrastructure solution to rural areas of Canada. Clearfield posted $271 million in revenue for fiscal year 2022.
www.comcast.com; www.xfinity.com/xfinitycommunities
Services/Products: Internet, video, voice and home security services
Comcast delivers internet, phone and media services to residential and business customers under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands. Xfinity Communities works with building and property owners, developers, leasing agents and homeowners associations to provide services to MDU residents. Comcast offers 1 Gbps service to nearly all the homes and businesses in its U.S. territory over its HFC network, using DOCSIS 3.1 technology. It also delivers FTTH-based gigabit residential service in greenfield MDUs and offers a premium 2 Gbps symmetrical residential FTTH service to about 18 million homes. In 2019, Comcast launched an in-home Wi-Fi digital security service and expanded its managed broadband footprint into Canada. The cable MSO also enhanced its Wi-Fi management and smart-city capabilities.
Comcast acquired Deep Blue Communications, which provides engineering, installation and commercial Wi-Fi network management services. Meanwhile, its IoT subsidiary, machineQ, collaborates with Neptune Technology Group to accelerate smart-city projects for advanced water metering and infrastructure. Since launching in April 2022, Comcast Smart Solutions has expanded its portfolio offerings and relationships with technology providers across the growing smart technology ecosystem.
Last year, Comcast increased speeds for its most popular Xfinity internet tiers, providing an extra boost for millions of residential customers across 14 northeastern states, from Maine through Virginia and the District of Columbia. The company also announced it is adopting advanced hollow core fiber to serve as the foundation for its faster 10G network, capable of 10 Gbps internet speeds.
This year, Comcast announced a partnership with the National Skills Coalition (NSC) to close the digital skill divide currently limiting educational and employment opportunities for nearly 50 million Americans. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation. Comcast Corporation reported $121.4 billion in revenue for 2022.
www.commscope.com 828-324-2200; 800-982-1708
Services/Products: Connectivity and cable solutions; access network solutions; outdoor wireless networks; networking, intelligent cellular and security solutions; home networks
With a suite of headend/central office, outside-plant and end-user broadband solutions, CommScope provides carriers, electric co-ops and other operators solutions to address residential, MDU, commercial and cellular backhaul applications. Founded in Hickory, North Carolina, CommScope supplies extensive subscriber-premises connectivity and conduit products. In addition to the portfolio of active and passive products and solutions for broadband, the company also includes a host of offerings for cellular networks at the macro, metro and indoor layers and a Wi-Fi business providing access points, switches, sensors and software for unlicensed networks. CommScope realigned its business segments in 2022 to better match its product families with their markets, in addition to driving enhanced focus, accountability and performance by instituting a General Manager model. Its five segments are Venue and Campus Networks, Broadband Networks, Outdoor Wireless Networks and Home Networks Connectivity and Cable Solutions for the telco, MSO, commercial infrastructure, enterprise, data center and hyperscale/cloud markets; Outdoor Wireless Networks for cellular at the macro and metro layers; Networking, Intelligent Cellular & Security Solutions for licensed, unlicensed and lightly licensed networking for large venues, campuses and enterprise markets; Access Network Solutions for active broadband and video; and Home Networks for residential video and broadband consumer premises equipment.
Ruckus Wi-Fi products continue to gain traction; Wifirst is bringing world-class connectivity to multiple casinos, hotels and restaurants across France with it, and Canadian customers have greater access to Ruckus Wi-Fi through CommScope’s new distribution agreement with MBSI WAV. In 2021, CommScope launched its NOVUX portfolio of fiber-to-the-home solutions. This flexible, modular architecture allows operators to use 75 percent fewer components than existing solutions while delivering 50 times the number of configurations. CommScope also introduced Propel, a high-speed fiber platform designed to help data center managers respond to the exponential increase in demand for computing power. In May 2022, the company announced a new cloud-to-edge suite of next-generation XGS-PON solutions built to facilitate the rapid global growth in FTTP deployments. This year, Tele Columbus AG, the parent company of PŸUR, engaged CommScope and Braun TeleCom for its next-generation network upgrade. The collaboration between the three companies encompasses a complete access network technology migration across Germany. CommScope also launched its new HomeVantage line of fiber gateways and optical network units (ONUs) and a new AI-based software product designed to improve the performance of broadband operators’ services. In 2022, CommScope’s revenue was $9.23 billion, up from $8.59 billion in 2021.
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www.co-mo.net; www.co-mo.coop 660-433-5521; 800-781-0157
Services/Products: Gigabit internet, HDTV, phone service
A decade ago, Co-Mo Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Tipton, Missouri, served an area that was only 15 percent covered by broadband. In response to customer demand, it launched a successful FTTH pilot project, eventually constructing a privately funded, $70 million, 4,000-mile fiber network covering the co-op’s 2,300-square-mile territory. Operating as Co-Mo Connect, the network set an example that other electric co-ops have followed. Co-Mo Connect offers internet speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps and phone and television services. The company is expanding further, building out its network in several new areas of Central Missouri, including Coffman Bend and Big Island at the Lake of the Ozarks, St. Martin, Lincoln and Warsaw. This year, the company is also expanding fiber optic internet access to the Niangua Arm of the Lake of the Ozarks. Co-Mo Connect serves thousands of Missouri subscribers with internet speeds that can support smart-home technologies, which increase the value of homes. Farm technologies have proven to increase revenue. Last year, Co-Mo Connect celebrated the milestone of 25,000 broadband service subscribers. The company has more than 190 employees.
www.conexon.us 202-798-3884
Services/Products: Conexon: fiber design, construction management, funding and operations support for rural electric cooperatives deploying FTTH; Conexon Connect, company’s ISP entity: fiber internet and VoIP services for consumers/businesses in territories of Connect partners
Conexon is a leader in the electric cooperative broadband movement, with a mission of closing the digital divide through fiber to the home. Founded in 2015, Conexon’s architecture and approach enable electric cooperatives to leverage their infrastructures to deliver fiber broadband services efficiently and affordably to their members. The company comprises professionals who have worked in electric cooperatives and the telecommunications industry, offering decades of individual experience in business planning, building networks, marketing and selling telecommunications. Conexon offers clients end-to-end broadband deployment and operations support, working with them to analyze economic feasibility, secure financing, design the network, manage construction, provide operational support, optimize business performance and determine critical partnerships.
Conexon has assisted more than 275 electric cooperatives, 75 of which deploy fiber networks. These electric cooperatives collectively offer more than 500,000 rural Americans fiber to the home services. The company has secured more than $2 billion in federal, state and local grants and subsidies for its clients. In 2021, Conexon launched its internet service provider subsidiary, Conexon Connect, an entity formed to operate and manage cooperative and investor-owned FTTH networks. To date, Conexon Connect operates in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Missouri.
www.consolidated.com 844-968-7224
Services/Products: Fiber-to-the-premises broadband, high-speed internet, data, phone, security, managed services, cloud services, wholesale carrier solutions
Consolidated Communications is a leading broadband provider serving consumers, businesses and carriers across rural and metro communities in more than 20 states. Consolidated has an extensive fiber network spanning more than 58,000 fiber route miles. The company is delivering on an ambitious expansion plan that has brought multi-gig–capable fiber to more than 1 million passings since 2021. The Fidium Fiber product is a customer-centered, consumer and small business fiber broadband service offering symmetrical multi-gig rates and exceptional service to customers in California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont.
An early adopter of public-private partnerships, Consolidated worked with 80 rural towns, state agencies and communication union districts (CUDs) throughout northern New England to build out town FTTH networks that provide symmetrical gigabit speeds to more than 85,000 homes and businesses. In 2023, the company secured $17 million for a rural Maine fiber network build that will bring fiber access to more than 15,000 locations and was awarded $40 million in grants to aid in building fiber to 57,000 homes in New Hampshire. Consolidated offers streaming content options to complement its fiber services and provides enhanced security and business communications solutions, including DDoS Mitigation, Cloud Secure, ProConnect and business productivity tools. CEO Bob Udell reports that the company added a record 12,337 consumer fiber broadband subscribers in the first quarter of 2023 and achieved 60 percent growth year over year. Consolidated Communications reported $1.19 billion in revenue for fiscal 2022.
www.corning.com 828-901-5000
Services/Products: Optical fiber, optical fiber cable, FTTx product suite (cabinets, splitters, terminals, housings, drops), closures, connectors, cable assemblies, wireless access networks, engineering services, training
In 2020, Corning marked the 50th anniversary of the first commercial, low-loss optical fiber – an innovation that transformed the communications industry. Corning remains a top provider of passive optical products and is the world’s highest-volume fiber producer. Last year, it opened a fiber plant in Poland, joining plants in India, China and North Carolina, where another expansion was announced in April 2023. Associated equipment and components are built in Texas, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Poland and China. Last November, Wesco International, a distributor, logistics services and supply chain solution firm, joined with Corning and Nokia to help accelerate and simplify last-mile broadband deployment in rural and regional U.S. networks. Wesco became the first distributor to launch a new FTTH kit featuring Corning’s award-winning FlexNAP components.
The company has been behind many innovations, including loose-tube cable design, plug-and-play solutions for LAN, and data-center applications. Its hardened, pre-connectorized products offer providers new FTTH network deployment options, such as its ultra-bend-insensitive ClearCurve product suite, which reduces the need for highly skilled labor. Designed for long-haul, metro and FTTH network applications, Corning’s SMF-28 Ultra Optical Fiber combines low attenuation with improved macro bend performance. Corning responded to the need for higher fiber counts with RocketRibbon, doubling fiber density in a 200-micron outer diameter. In 2021, Corning introduced SMF-28 Contour fiber with superior bendability, compatibility and low signal loss. It also launched the EDGE Rapid
Connect family, an up to 70 percent faster deployment than legacy cabling methods. The company expanded its longtime collaboration with AT&T to extend investments in fiber infrastructure, grow U.S. broadband networks, and accelerate 5G deployment. Last year, Corning established an exclusive supply program to help NTCA members accelerate rural broadband deployments. Corning expanded its Evolv hardened connectivity solutions (introduced in 2021) for accelerating the deployment of fiber networks with an augmented-reality app, Evolv AR Visualizer, that allows operators to show how terminals will be placed before a deployment; new Evolv terminal options offer additional deployment flexibility. The Evolv One-Fiber Pushlok Connection Kit lets operators easily connect Pushlok drops, simplifying deployment. New Evolv terminal-port reflectors can be paired with optical network monitoring to enable automated monitoring so technicians can easily isolate cable segments for preventive maintenance and troubleshooting. In 2022, Corning’s optical communications business reported just over $5 billion in revenue, growing 15 percent over 2021, after a 22 percent spurt from 2020. The fiber communications business provided almost all overall growth in the parent company’s core businesses, which totaled $13.1 billion last year.
www.cossystems.com 800-562-1730
Services/Products: Demand aggregation software, BSS/OSS for managing open-access fiber networks
COS Systems delivers cloud-hosted software to plan, build and manage broadband networks globally. COS Business Engine is a proven billing and operations solution (BSS/OSS) supporting traditional providers and wholesale open-access networks. The end-to-end platform provides self-enablement, self-service management and digital sales and marketing through an online marketplace. It is simple and intuitive for customers and employees and offers a great user experience, increasing take rates and revenues. With its Service Zones, COS offers demand aggregation software to determine public interest and convert possible customers into signed subscribers. COS helps private ISPs and operators, public-private partnerships, municipalities and utilities, and cooperatives in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia excel in the FTTH race and make their ventures financially viable.
www.cox.com 800-234-3993
Services/Products: High-speed internet, digital video, voice, mobile and smart-home services
The largest private telecom company in the U.S., Cox Communications serves nearly 7 million homes and businesses across 18 states. Cox was one of the first to launch residential gigabit internet speeds; more than 99 percent of Cox residential customers today have access to gigabit speeds. The company’s ongoing multibillion-dollar investment in its fiber-powered broadband network is now delivering multi-gig speeds across its footprint. It will be available to approximately 50 percent of customers by the end of 2023.
For the past 20 years, Cox has continued its commitment to help connect communities, provide digital literacy training, provide discounted PCs, and connect families to its Connect2Compete Program (C2C) for households with K–12 children. Cox also administers the Federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which can provide eligible households access to high-speed internet service at no cost. It continues to expand these programs and remove barriers that prevent people from connecting to the internet. Cox expanded its affordability and adoption options to include its newest low-cost solution, ideal for veterans, senior citizens and Americans with disabilities, called ConnectAssist. Since 2020, thanks to its digital equity programs, more than 2.8 million people can connect to the internet.
This year, Cox launched Cox Mobile, a nationwide mobile phone service for its internet customers. It also announced that it would acquire an interest in Unite Private Networks, which provides fiber optic communications infrastructure services. Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a family-owned business founded in 1898 by James M. Cox, who served three terms as governor of Ohio. Cox Communities is the division that delivers solutions to multifamily and single-family community owners, managers, developers and their residents to support them in optimizing rents and occupancy and making their properties future-ready.
www.ctcnet.us 301-933-1488
Services/Products: Fiber and wireless broadband network planning and design, engineering, financial analysis, grant funding and strategies, digital equity, assessment, implementation
CTC offers extensive experience and expertise in all aspects of broadband strategic planning, needs assessment, feasibility analysis, engineering, business modeling, grant strategy and grant writing. Founded in 1983, CTC delivers independent strategic, technical and financial guidance on broadband infrastructure primarily to public and nonprofit entities, including state and local governments, cooperative and municipal utilities, nonprofit consortia and universities. With more than 15 years of experience with federal, state and regional grant programs, CTC helps clients capitalize on funding opportunities. The firm identifies program options and develops appropriate funding strategies that align clients’ broadband plans, including public-private collaboration, with available funding opportunities. CTC is a pioneer in digital equity analysis and planning.
Through innovative data collection and analysis approaches, the firm helps public-sector clients better understand the gaps that may keep all residents from making the most meaningful use of broadband. These approaches do not focus on building new infrastructure but on developing strategic guidance regarding affordability, device access, digital literacy, language barriers, security concerns and other issues that prevent internet adoption and use. CTC partnered with Business Oregon to develop plans to make internet accessible, affordable and reliable via high-speed broadband for all Oregonians. The company also drafted the RFP that led to the selection of Metronet for constructing a fiber optic network throughout Moline, Illinois.
www.danella.com 610-828-6200
Services/Products: FTTH network design, engineering, construction, testing
Since its founding in 1972, Danella has grown from a tiny office/yard to having a rental footprint in every state, construction in 15 states, and more than 2,000 employees across the country with an annual revenue of $580 million. It has 17 divisions operating from 29 geographically diverse facilities in 12 states. Danella Construction performs approximately $225 million in work per year. It is a leading installation contractor for all types of utilities, providing services for the power, gas distribution, water and communications industries since its early beginnings. Danella continues to expand its FTTH services for Tier-1 service providers and municipalities. By acquiring Florida-based Viking Utility Services in 2020, Danella expanded its portfolio to include new construction development infrastructure, overhead to underground electric conversion, communications (fiber, coax, FTTx) and directional drilling and locating services.
Given the number of new broadband builds that will start in the next year because of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding, there’s significant potential that providers could disrupt underground utility gas lines.
Danella’s Locusview team has been working alongside PECO, Pennsylvania’s largest electric and natural gas utility, to digitally map all gas mains and utility services at Danella work sites. They precisely map the entire underground area so crews know the location of utility services. The company continues to gain recognition for its efforts. It ranked 78 out of 600 in this year’s top specialty contractors list and 11 in the Top 20 Utility Services sector among older and publicly held corporations. Danella’s safety practices also gain attention. The company recently won the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) 2023 Recognition of Achievement in Safety Excellence award.
www.designnine.com; www.wideopennetworks.us 540-951-4400
Services/Products: Planning and feasibility studies; business and financial planning; project management; network design, buildout and operations
Design Nine’s broadband planning and network design firm is well known for its expertise in local transport and open-access networks. Design Nine services include fiber and wireless network design, grant-writing assistance, needs assessment, broadband network buildout assistance, financial modeling, business planning, community-owned broadband systems’ legal and organizational structures and project management. Open-access networks it planned and designed include Bozeman Fiber in Montana; Palm Coast FiberNET in Florida; Danville, Rockbridge and Wired Road in Virginia; FastRoads in New Hampshire; AccessEagan in Minnesota; and fiber to the home in Blacksburg, Va.; and Charles City County in Virginia. Design Nine has worked with the New Hampshire FastRoads open-access network project for several years and is helping to connect 22 communities with middle- and last-mile fiber.
Design Nine’s subsidiary, WideOpen Networks, manages community-owned and private-sector networks, providing network monitoring, service provisioning, service provider attraction, asset management, billing and outside-plant management. CIO Review recognized the company as a Top 20 Emerging Network Solution Provider. WideOpen Networks plans to develop 40 miles of fiber in Blacksburg that will serve up to 8,000 homes. Design Nine’s broadband planning work continues to expand, with a sharp increase in the number of feasibility studies completed and a steady rise in the number of municipalities requesting help. Design Nine, headquartered in Blacksburg, works on projects throughout North America.
www.ditchwitch.com 580-336-4402
Services/Products: Construction equipment for laying fiber
Ditch Witch offers tools that allow service providers to dig efficiently through challenging terrain, congested roadways and manicured lawns to build FTTH networks. It specializes in developing underground construction equipment, including trenchers, microtrenchers, vibratory plows, horizontal directional drills, mud recycling and fluid systems, drill pipe, HDD tooling, vacuum excavation systems and stand-on skid steers. Ditch Witch microtrenchers are designed to improve productivity and reduce the cost per foot on fiber job sites. The company’s newest fiber installation offering is the Reload Microtrencher Blade, which allows contractors to quickly replace damaged or worn bits in the field without removing the blade from the machine. The reloadable bits change the way fiber installation professionals think about maintenance, simplifying the process enough that one person can change every bit on a blade in less than 20 minutes. The company recently released the world’s largest all-terrain horizontal direction drill, the AT120, which allows contractors to drill through solid rock formations without using massive amounts of drilling fluid. Ditch Witch also added its largest truck vacuum excavator, the W12, the first product in the Warlock Truck Vac series. The W12 features 5,000 CFM and a lift of 27 Hg, which removes massive amounts of debris in less time than ever. Recently, the company added a new microtrencher, the MT26, which offers 26 inches of digging depth for 5G applications that need at least two feet of cover. This year, Ditch Witch launched an e-commerce version of HDD Advisor to simplify tooling configuration and streamline parts purchasing for horizontal directional drill operators. Ditch Witch’s factory is in Perry, Oklahoma, and the company has more than 1,600 employees. Its equipment is distributed through a worldwide dealer organization that operates in more than 100 countries through more than 170 locations.
www.duraline.com 800-847-7661
Services/Products: Conduit, cable-in-conduit, microducts, accessories
Dura-Line develops and manufactures high-density, polyethylene conduits for protecting fiber optic, electrical and coaxial cables. It supplies fiber optic conduit and related products to telecom, data, cable TV, power and other markets. Customers include leading U.S. and international telephone and cable providers. Dura-Line developed the first ducts for installing and protecting fiber optic cables in 1981, introduced a complete line of fiber optic microduct products in 2001, and followed up in 2003 with FuturePath, a bundled package of microducts that can be installed the same way as a traditional conduit. FuturePath allows up to 24 pathways in a single conduit, and the FuturePath Figure-8, introduced in 2018, allows bundling seven microducts into one for aerial fiber. In February 2021, in response to the global COVID-19 crisis, Dura-Line’s parent company, Orbia, and the Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities), a city-led network to empower cities to advance the lives of urban dwellers, announced a partnership to produce innovative, long-term infrastructure investments that include connectivity.
Dura-Line’s conduit is being deployed in three rural U.S. communities in need of new fiber infrastructure to support tourism and the film industry – Waco, Texas; Senoia, Georgia; and Deadwood, South Dakota. Last year, Dura-Line announced its acquisition of Biarri Networks, a leading Denver-based technology provider specializing in fiber optic network design solutions for the telecommunications industry. The company is also constructing three new production facilities across the U.S. and Canada. This year, the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance (LEDA) announced the expansion of Dura-Line into the Lubbock community. The expansion will drive the creation of 141 new full-time jobs and introduce more than $52 million of capital investment. Dura-Line has 20 locations and 1,500-plus employees worldwide.
www.dycomind.com 561-627-7171
Services/Products: Program and project management, engineering, construction, maintenance, installation services
Dycom provides specialty contracting services, including engineering, construction, program and project management, materials provisioning, installation and maintenance to telecommunications, cable MSOs and broadband providers throughout the U.S. Its subsidiaries provide services to construct, install, optimize and maintain communications facilities. The company offers a full suite of turnkey services for wireline and wireless networks, including planning, site identification and acquisition, architecture and engineering, design, project management, materials purchasing and distribution, infrastructure and tower construction, equipment and antenna installation, cable placement and splicing, central office EF&I, commission, integration, residential and commercial installations, customer acquisition, locating services and maintenance.
AT&T, Comcast and Charter awarded Dycom construction and fulfillment service contracts and extensions, and Dycom signed a rural fiber services contract covering two states. Last year, Dycom Industries began working with Brightspace on the design and construction preparation for the planned deployment of its fiber optics network buildout. The first application will take place in North Carolina. Dycom is also finding new opportunities to assist electric co-ops with their FTTH builds. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with more than 14,000 employees, Dycom posted $3.1 billion in revenue for the fiscal year 2022.
www.dzsi.com 877-946-6320
Services/Products: Broadband connectivity, connected home and business, and mobile and optical edge transport solutions
DZS Inc. is a global leader in access networking infrastructure, service assurance and consumer experience software solutions. DZS enables today’s broadband service providers to become tomorrow’s experience providers by partnering to transform their networks and business models with software-defined subscriber experience management for immersive, in-home Wi-Fi management and services. The company also offers service assurance; end-to-end, intelligent, multi-gigabit fiber (FTTx) broadband connectivity; and 5G mobile services. DZS paved the way in GPON, 10G symmetrical (XGS)-PON, 5G mobile xHaul (fronthaul, midhaul, backhaul), open RAN (O-RAN) and optical local area networking (FiberLAN) innovation to meet the most demanding and complex requirements in next-generation broadband access and wireless networks.
The company’s scalable, future-proof portfolio, which includes market-leading fixed, mobile and enterprise solutions complemented by robust, fiber-edge access and transport expertise and world-class support services, accelerates broadband investments for any deployment scenario.
DZS is led by visionary CEO Charlie Vogt, who in 2020 took the assets and insights of the industry’s leaders in XGS-PON, 5G O-RAN transport, software-defined networking and the world’s leading experts in environmentally hardened designs necessary for the network EDGE and combined them into a single disruptive company. By leveraging industry-leading R&D and product development capabilities, Vogt has quickly built a formidable company designed to meet the demands of the future and give customers a sustainable, competitive EDGE. During its rapid growth, DZS stayed true to this philosophy with a customer-first attitude and agile mindset. Since the company’s renaissance in 2020, DZS has booked more than $1 billion in new orders, raised more than $100 million in new investments and won 225 new customers, including some of the world’s largest and most respected carriers. With more than 400 customers, 60,000 systems deployed and 70 million cloud-connected subscribers, DZS has the scope and scale of business that allows it to lead markets while remaining agile and responsive to change.
DZS continues to deliver cutting-edge solutions that help bridge the digital divide by bringing high-speed, fiber-based broadband services to unserved and underserved communities across the globe. This year, DZS and Irby Utilities announced deployment milestones reached by two of DZS’s rural electric cooperative broadband customers: Connect2First and FASTnet. Each has deployed hyper-fast broadband to more than 12,000 subscribers to date. The company also won the 2023 Broadband Communities Cornerstone Award for its work in powering Myakka Communications to bring “Broadband to the Boonies.”
www.epb.com 423-648-1372
Services/Products: Voice, video, data and smart-grid services provided over a fiber optic network
EPB’s FTTP network is frequently cited as a national model for deploying a community-based fiber network accessible to every home and business in its 600-square-mile service area. EPB pioneered a groundbreaking business plan combining a fiber network with cutting-edge smart-grid technology, a municipal utility serving the Chattanooga area. In 2010, EPB became the first U.S. provider to launch a gig-speed internet service accessible to all its customers. EPB also uses the Chattanooga fiber network as the communications backbone for one of the most advanced, highly automated, self-healing smart-grid power distribution systems in the U.S. Today, EPB serves more than 120,000 homes and businesses. In addition to being the first to launch a 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps symmetrical offer, EPB also launched a communitywide 25 Gbps service earlier this year. Through a partnership with Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Convention Center is EPB’s first 25 Gbps customer, enabling it to simultaneously provide high bandwidth connectivity to thousands of smart devices to draw business conferences, e-gaming competitions, live-streaming events and more. Following the launch of its 25 Gbps service in Chattanooga, EPB launched Smart Net Plus, a managed Wi-Fi solution.
Leveraging its 9,000-mile fiber optic backbone, EPB’s smart grid reroutes power around storm damage and other disruptions to reduce outages by about 55 percent per year, saving customers more than an estimated $161 million annually in losses associated with spoiled goods, lost productivity and other outage-related damages. In Chattanooga, EPB’s communitywide fiber network already helped generate nearly $2.7 billion in economic benefits – including more than 9,500 jobs – since it was completed more than a decade ago. EPB also plays an active role in driving cybersecurity and quantum technology innovations. Quantum Protected Network, a cybersecurity technology developed by Qubitekk and field-tested at EPB, is an extension of previous research and development by Qubitekk and EPB in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory. In March, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly announced “Gig City Goes Quantum,” a new initiative to prepare for education, jobs and business opportunities in the emerging quantum technology sector. Building on an effort to run quantum cybersecurity technologies, EPB and Qubitekk jointly launched EPB Quantum Network, a commercially available quantum network designed for private companies and government and university researchers to run quantum equipment and applications in an established fiber optic environment. EPB is also helping other communities build their fiber networks through its launched EPB Broadband Solutions to reduce capital costs and financial risk while accelerating speed to market.
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www.espicorp.com 877-799-3774
Services/Products: UPS equipment for fiber installations
Kansas-based ESPi manufactures several lines of UPS equipment for FTTH installations and remote sites without power. ESPi offers indoor and outdoor UPS solutions and solar and hybrid UPS units to provide power to remote areas where utility power is not readily available. ESPi’s UPS product line includes 12V NEO Indoor, 12V TITAN Outdoor, 12V TITAN Solar, 24V TITAN-24, 48V Mega TITAN, TITAN-XL, Solar UPS products, Watt Box, AC/DC Power adapters and much more. ESPi’s 12V TITAN Outdoor is a quality UPS that is easy to install, reduces time on site and protects customers from service disruptions. ESPi distributes its products directly and through various partners, including United Tel-Supply, Power & Tel, Graybar and KGP Logistics.
“It’s an exciting time to be part of the FTTH revolution. I’m both humbled and inspired when I hear stories from residents and neighbors about the impact broadband internet access is making in their lives. I’m grateful for how state and local government leaders have prioritized fiber access and the commitment that’s been made by our industry partners to help close the digital divide in Tennessee.” — William Bradford, CEO, United Communications
www.etisoftware.com 770-242-3620; 800-332-1078
Services/Products: Software products for managing the entire broadband subscriber lifestyle, from service activation and fulfillment, work order management and billing to device management and data analytics
ETI Software Solutions is a leading global provider of OSS/BSS software solutions that enable broadband providers to manage and streamline their fiber networks effectively. By reducing network complexity, ETI’s solutions allow broadband providers to deliver optimal customer experiences, helping them attract and retain customers. ETI recently launched Smart B/OSS, the world’s first intelligent OSS/BSS platform, to allow broadband providers to streamline their operations and create more engaging customer experiences. With this innovative technology, ETI is paving the way for broadband providers to distinguish themselves in the marketplace by providing an enhanced subscriber experience – critical in today’s competitive environment.
Built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and TM Forum standards, Smart B/OSS allows broadband providers to manage operations, finances, customer relationships and other core functions from a single platform with assistance from artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate processes and gain insights from data. Its cloud-based platform provides broadband providers with a cost-effective, scalable, secure way to manage network operations efficiently and effectively. Founded in 1992, ETI is experiencing tremendous growth by simplifying complex systems through purpose-built intelligent platforms for network operators. ETI is an employee-owned software company headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, with affiliate offices in England, Bulgaria and Ukraine.
www.exfo.com 418-683-0211; 800-663-3936
Services/Products: Testing, monitoring and analytics solutions for the communications industry
EXFO, headquartered in Quebec, Canada, has offered testing, monitoring and analytics solutions for 37 years and, by most measures, is the world’s largest supplier of communications troubleshooting equipment. The company has lab and field-testing expertise, providing solutions that automate FTTH testing and workflows to boost efficiency and subscriber quality of experience. EXFO’s FTTH test portfolio includes fiber inspection solutions; OLTS, OTDR (a new highly automated modular line, the D-Series, was introduced in spring 2023) and iOLM, including CWDM and DWDM models; PON power meters; Ethernet protocol testers; and end-to-end monitoring solutions for the physical and service layers. The OTDR D-Series is part of an entire ecosystem that connects to EXFO Exchange, a collaborative, cloud-based software platform that unifies, automates and optimizes field-testing, reporting, workflows, troubleshooting processes and more. All test plans, data and reports can be stored, shared and analyzed collaboratively in real time.
EXFO supports the end-to-end design to deployment ecosystem with test solutions for network equipment manufacturers and network operators alike. The company, which has about 1,900 employees worldwide, has broadened its suite of 5G test tools and, starting in 2020, expanded the development of its cloud-native, AI-based Nova A|SA Adaptive Service Assurance platform. Since then, it broadened its collaboration in that field with Intel, most recently in winter 2022. EXFO operates in more than 25 countries and counts 95 percent of the world’s top communications service providers as customers.
www.fiberdyne.com 315-895-8470; 800-894-9694
Services/Products: Optical passive devices, multiplexers, fiber optic cable assemblies, termination boxes, FTTH drop cables, fiber testing and installation services
Fiberdyne Labs, Inc., established in 1992, manufactures stock and custom fiber optic products, including termination boxes, passive modules (WDM and fiber splitters), fiber jumpers, pigtails and MPO cables and cassettes. Recent product introductions include in-building fiber tracing tools, FTTH drop cables, an PLC Splitter Module (GPON XGS-PON NG-PON2 FTTx), Passive Optical Patchcords (FPOP) Cable Assemblies, 1U FiberPassHD Cassette Chassis and a 150GHz O-Band 17 Channel AAWG Module. The company also offers fiber characterization testing and installation services nationwide. Fiberdyne can determine whether a fiber plant will support a provider’s network equipment and transmission speed with its fiber characterization service. Its installation services include managing, terminating, troubleshooting and testing copper and fiber optic cabling. It also offers fiber optic splicing services to repair broken fiber optic cables or splice on factory-terminated pigtails. Headquartered in Frankfort, New York, Fiberdyne has 77 full-time employees.
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www.finleyusa.com 800-225-9716
Services/Products: Broadband network consulting, design and engineering services
Finley Engineering is one of the most extensive communications and network design companies in the U.S. With 70 years of communications and electric power engineering experience and 30-plus years of experience with fiber communication and data projects, Finley works with organizations that provide fiber connections to improve quality of life and economic opportunities. Specializing in end-to-end engineering consulting, Finley works with telecom providers, electric cooperatives, municipalities and counties to find the best broadband strategies to fit specific needs. Every project starts with a strategic discussion regarding broadband and includes all stakeholders to gather critical information and perspectives. Finley’s approach is from start to finish – from the initial feasibility study to project completion. Finley continues to specialize in helping clients secure rural broadband funding from grants and loans and has been particularly active in Fiber Broadband Association educational efforts. In 2023, the company was included in Broadband Communities’ 22nd annual list of leading broadband technologies and services. The company has a half-dozen offices and is headquartered in Lamar, Missouri. It has more than 250 employees nationwide.
www.fiberinstrumentsales.com 800-500-0347
Services/Products: Fiber distribution cabinets, splicers, consumables and cable assemblies
FIS is a manufacturer and full-line distributor of broadband communication fiber optics; test equipment, splicers, drop cable and cable assemblies, fiber tools and toolkits, fiber optic consumable products and fiber distribution cabinets. Visit the FIS website or online store to fill the shopping cart, submit an order and receive stock items a few short days later.
FIS has been servicing fiber optic contractors and broadband companies since its inception in 1985 and has continued to reinvest in manufacturing fiber products. FIS continues to expand the distribution of passive and active equipment products. FIS manufacturing efforts have elevated its services and products as the “safety of the buy” for its customer base of more than 9,000 worldwide. With 250 employees, FIS manufactures fiber interconnects, fiber cable, test equipment, splice-on connectors and drop cable assemblies and provides a wide array of services loading NID Boxes, MSTs and distribution pole or pedestal cabinets to reduce installation times. FIS has metal fabrication equipment, paint booths, silk screening and loading of pre-terminated cables into the enclosures for quick field installations. FIS has new kits for FTTH technicians for mid-span cable access, smaller fusion splicers for installing fiber connectors, and fiber splice and distribution enclosures for hardened outdoor connectors. FIS has products to connect the residential home to optical splitters on the pole or at the neighborhood pedestal. The FIS Fiber to the Home Solution allows an end-user or contractor to choose the preferred products from multiple manufacturers and migrate them together. FIS is a supplier to many FTTH broadband providers across the U.S., Canada and internationally. FIS offers fiber optic training courses: live online, pre-recorded online, onsite custom corporate training and in-person training at its Brightside Training Center or popular cities across the U.S.
855-850-2063 www.frontier.com
Services/Products: Broadband internet, online video, business services
Frontier describes its mission in the broadband industry to drive the “un-cable” revolution. Today, the service provider is extending fiber broadband to millions of consumers and businesses in 25 states with multi-gigabit speeds. The service provider has set an ambitious fiber buildout plan. So far, Frontier has built fiber to 1.2 million locations, bringing total fiber passings to 5.2 million by the end of 2022; it’s now more than halfway to its target of 10 million fiber locations. Moreover, company leaders said it is on track to build out to 1.3 million locations in 2023, surpassing 10 million locations by 2025.
As Frontier has rolled out fiber into more markets, the telco has enhanced its speed tiers. After launching network-wide 2 Gbps fiber internet service, Frontier debuted a 5 Gbps offer by providing customers in all its fiber markets access to the new premium service simultaneously, with no phased rollouts. In tandem with rolling out new speed tiers, the service provider has recognized the ways consumers consume video content. It launched a partnership with YouTube TV that bundles fiber internet with live and on-demand TV content, all on a single bill.
But residential service is only one part of the equation. Frontier is also leading an aggressive effort to increase its business services efforts on two fronts: providing core connectivity to small and midsized businesses and enterprise customers and building a managed services portfolio to generate revenues and drive up average revenue per user. It hopes to achieve this through a mix of internal efforts and partnerships with key business suppliers, including RingCentral (Unified Communications), Microsoft Teams Direct (integrated services), Cradlepoint (wireless failover) and Cisco Meraki (Wi-Fi security). Led by “Nick” Simon Jeffery, who became CEO in April 2021, Frontier reported 2022 revenues of $6.41 billion.
www.fujitsu.com/us/products/network 888-362-7763
Services/Products: Telecommunications hardware and software; financial, business and IT consulting; market analysis and deployment plans; network design, supply chain management, project management, network deployment and systems integration; operations and management, multivendor wireline and wireless solutions; fiber services, custom indoor/outdoor cabinets, network and technology refresh
Fujitsu Network Communications helps network operators and service providers launch or expand broadband networks that bring enhanced connectivity to their subscribers. Its consultative, systems-integrator approach gives customers a single point of contact and peace of mind that their fiber and wireless network, operations and services will be ready on day one. With extensive project management experience acquired through many years of deployments, Fujitsu manages any level of planning, implementation and operations that customers require. The company provides turnkey solutions for FTTx implementations with the best multivendor wireline, wireless and software technology. Fujitsu has served as a prime integrator for high-profile projects, including an FTTH deployment by Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in Taos, New Mexico, and a middle-mile network for Horizon in southern and eastern Ohio. Fujitsu also served as the prime network integrator for municipal broadband provider FairlawnGig, which achieved a 94 percent customer satisfaction score in a recent online survey of business and residential users. The company is also partnering with Accelecom to connect businesses throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky with a high-speed fiber broadband network.
In 2022, Fujitsu introduced the Virtuora Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) offering to enable intelligent, automated and adaptive service delivery over multilayer, multivendor mobile networks, subnets, network slices and the cloud. This year, Fujitsu announced the launch of its 1FINITY Ultra Optical System, a hyper-reliable optical transport platform delivering extreme performance and scalability with data rates of 1.2 terabits per second (Tbps) on a single wavelength, with future upgrade to 1.6 Tbps. Fujitsu Network Communications is a subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, a Japanese information and communications technology company (ICT). As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers in more than 100 countries, Fujitsu’s 124,000 employees work to resolve some of humanity’s most significant challenges. The global company’s range of services and solutions draws on five key technologies: computing, networks, AI, data and security and converging technologies, which are brought together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited reported consolidated revenues of $3.71 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.
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www.gigabitnow.com 866-748-8066
Services/Products: FTTH network solutions and internet services, including design, construction, operations, connectivity and customer support
GigabitNow offers communities of all sizes fast, reliable, affordable fiber internet without bandwidth caps and free from privacy worries or service constraints. The company provides customized solutions, including complete turnkey services, for the development, construction, operations, support, and delivery of gigabit fiber internet networks. GigabitNow provides gigabit-class networks and services to unserved and underserved municipalities, multitenant buildings, and private communities (including senior living communities). As of mid-2023, GigabitNow deploys multiple FTTH city and community networks. As of 2020, GigabitNow provides internet services to large sections of Fullerton, California, as part of its FiberCity project with SiFi Networks and the company started working with customers in neighboring communities on new connectivity services. In June 2021, it announced a new project for Placentia, California, activating the first customer in June 2023.
Several other FiberCity projects with SiFi are underway, including Simi Valley and Rancho Cordova, California, and Saratoga Springs, New York – GigabitNow’s first residential/business deployment on the East Coast. In 2022, the provider announced new FTTH community networks in Bloomington and Columbus, Indiana, in partnership with Hoosier Fiber Networks. GigabitNow expects to offer internet service to portions of both communities in the summer of 2023 as Hoosier Fiber Networks completes the first build areas. Saratoga Springs city officials and SiFi Network broke ground last October on the Saratoga Springs FiberCity. When the $32 million project is complete in 2024, high-speed fiber infrastructure will be available to every household, business and institution within city limits. GigabitNow will serve as the internet provider on the network, offering speeds up to 10 Gbps. Founded in 1991, GigabitNow is a division of IsoFusion, one of the largest privately held, full-service ISPs and co-location providers in the Pacific Northwest.
www.gonetspeed.com 855-891-7291
Services/Products: Voice, video and gigabit speed internet services
Headquartered in New Gloucester, Maine, GoNetspeed provides high-speed fiber internet to residential and business customers. In 2021, five companies in telecommunications were acquired by Oak Hill Capital, creating GoNetspeed. To date, GoNetspeed provides access to service in more than 120 communities throughout nine states: Alabama, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and West Virginia. GoNetspeed has continued to accelerate the expansion of its fiber network throughout the Northeastern U.S., adding thousands of new service areas every year. GoNetspeed is one of the largest independent internet providers in the East.
www.graybar.com 800-GRAYBAR (472-9227)
Services/Products: PON electronics, fiber cabinets and enclosures, fiber optic cable, fiber splice closures and pedestals, DC power, fiber terminals
Graybar is a North American distributor of products and materials for telecommunications and other industries. FTTH and related solutions represent a significant portion of Graybar’s broadband business. Independent telephone companies and cooperatives, competitive exchange carriers, municipalities, rural electric cooperatives, contractors, wireless companies and cable operators depend on Graybar. In November 2021, Graybar acquired Metro Electric Supply and Metro Lighting, a regional distributor primarily serving homebuilders and contractors specializing in residential, commercial and industrial projects. It is also a retailer of lighting products. Last year, Graybar announced that it completed the acquisition of CX Connexion, an electrical distributor based in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Earlier this year, the company acquired Valin Corporation, a leading distributor of automation, filtration, fluid handling, heating and process control products and systems.
Graybar has won several accolades. Fortune named it on the World’s Most Admired Companies list for the 21st year and No. 378 on its Fortune 500 ranking of the largest U.S. companies. Graybar also was named one of Energage’s Top Workplaces USA. Founded in 1869 by inventor Elisha Gray and entrepreneur Enos Barton, Graybar sells thousands of items from major manufacturers; its value-added services include kitting and integrated solutions. A Fortune 500 company with net sales of $10.5 billion in 2022, Graybar employs 9,400 people at more than 325 locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. It is one of North America’s largest, oldest employee-owned companies.
www.greenlightnetworks.com 585-351-6600
Services/Products: High-speed fiber internet service
Greenlight Networks is an ultra-high-speed broadband service provider offering residential customers internet speeds up to 5 Gbps. Founded in 2011, Greenlight Networks builds, owns and operates a fiber optic network that provides high-speed internet connections. Earlier this year, the company reduced the cost of 1G internet by $25 per month and 2G internet by $100 per month while simultaneously including a new 5G service at symmetrical speeds. In 2021, Greenlight Networks completed its acquisition of Plexicomm, a Binghamton-based ISP, providing a platform for Greenlight to expand its fiber network across New York State’s Southern Tier. In 2022, private equity firm Oak Hill Capital became the majority investor of Greenlight Networks, providing the financial backing to accelerate Greenlight’s growth in building and connecting fiber-to-the-home broadband services across New York state and beyond. Greenlight Networks’ high-speed fiber internet is available to more than 125,000 homes in 21 municipalities in the Rochester, Buffalo, Binghamton and Albany areas. In the next few years, Oak Hill plans to invest up to $300 million to expand Greenlight’s network to more than 800,000 homes.
www.gvtc.com 830-885-4411; 800-367-4882
Services/Products: Internet, cable TV, smart-home security, phone
GVTC Communications, a leading independent ISP, delivers unparalleled high-speed internet, state-of-the-art smart-home security, and more to customers in far northern San Antonio, the Texas Hill Country, and South-Central Texas. Located in New Braunfels, Texas, GVTC has more than 224 employees. Today, more than 84 percent of GVTC’s service area has FTTH capability, with more expansion projects in the pipeline. In early 2019, GVTC simplified its FTTH offerings with a new tier structure featuring standard symmetrical speeds of up to 250 Mbps, with options to upgrade to 500 Mbps and 1 Gbps. Later, GVTC launched a premium Wi-Fi service with a Wi-Fi 6 router and a mobile app to control and customize subscribers’ Wi-Fi experiences.
A key element of GVTC’s fiber buildout strategy is an ongoing collaboration with the local economic development agencies and municipalities that use its fiber network to recruit and retain businesses. For example, GVTC built fiber across Boerne, Bulverde and Gonzales, Texas, in partnership with the cities to make them attractive destinations for residents and businesses. GVTC is working with other nearby communities on similar fiber expansion partnerships. In March 2021, GVTC achieved a net promoter score (NPS) of +44, up from +28 in 2020, for its Premium Wi-Fi Service using the complete Calix Revenue Edge solution. This puts GVTC in the same category as companies such as Apple and Target, far above the norm for the telecommunications industry. GVTC has also partnered with Calix, Inc. on a fully managed home protection service and now offers customers Arlo Secure and its pro-installation services.
From the technology connecting homes to the initiatives relating to people, GVTC and The GVTC Foundation are dedicated to building a more robust, better community. The foundation has donated nearly $6 million since its inception in 2006, supporting nonprofit organizations across GVTC’s service area. Last year, The GVTC Foundation granted 100 organizations more than $563,000 in monetary support and GVTC employees served more than 29,000 volunteer hours. In 2023, GVTC and The GVTC Foundation will distribute nearly a quarter of a million dollars to high school seniors in its service area.
www.prforbroadband.com 914-242-0010
Services/Products: Marketing consulting services
The broadband marketing agency Harrison Edwards works with entities in almost every corner of the fiber industry. Pioneers of modern-day stakeholder engagement, the company has expanded to represent clients in the U.S. and abroad. Harrison Edwards builds support for broadband projects, creates customer acquisition campaigns and amplifies its clients’ corporate interests. The team works with network operators, ISPs, engineering firms, construction companies, software vendors, public agencies and nonprofit organizations to help drive broadband access and adoption. It has helped drive advocacy efforts on behalf of the Vermont CUD Association with NTIA, launched stakeholder campaigns for clients such as SiFi Networks and Fujitsu, and developed marketing and customer acquisition strategies for UTOPIA Fiber, Yellowstone Fiber, and Traverse City Light & Power. It has also helped construction giants such as Mears grow their presence and AEX expand internationally. Harrison Edwards has won more than 150 awards for excellence from industry peers.
“We are happy to be recognized among the top 100 companies in Broadband Communities magazine. Belden’s PPC brand has been supporting telecom companies in their efforts to connect every subscriber around the world for more than 80 years, and we strive to continue innovating for decades to come.” — Cary Mullin, VP and general manager, Belden Broadband Solutions
Services/Products: Fiber optic products and solutions
Founded in 1993, Swedish-based Hexatronic Group AB, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets and sells fiber communication solutions. Hexatronic enables nonstop connectivity for communities worldwide, partnering with customers across four continents – from telecom operators to network owners – and offering leading-edge fiber technology and solutions for fall conditions. Hexatronic Group consists of 54 operational entities, with a total of 1,950+ employees, and offers a complete range of passive fiber optic infrastructure. The company also represents leading worldwide manufacturers of specialized tools and equipment.
In 2022, Hexatronic released a new Stingray product with 24 fibers to the market. Customers can enjoy the advantages of the world’s slimmest 24-fiber air-blown cable to increase capacity in existing ducts or to lower the environmental impact by choosing slimmer duct systems in new projects. Sustainability is a part of daily work at Hexatronic, and there are many great examples of sustainable practices from different parts of the organization. One project at Hexatronic Germany addresses handling large wooden drums used to deliver products. The German team designed a better process that improves the drum return rates. In the new digitalized setup, the customer scans a QR code and fills out a quick form to have the drums collected at the project site and brought back to the factory for reuse.
www.horizonconnects.com 866-418-8126
Services/Products: Internet, Ethernet, hosted voice, cloud express, dark fiber, wavelength, data center connectivity services
Horizon is a facilities-based fiber optic broadband service provider based in Ohio with expanding services across the Midwest. The company currently provides symmetrical fiber optic internet, TV and phone service in Chillicothe, Circleville, Washington Court House and Lancaster. It announced fiber buildouts in several other Ohio markets, including Greenfield, Zanesville, Athens, Logan, Johnstown, Lewis Center and Hillsboro – with more on the way. Operating 5,500-plus route miles of fiber, Horizon provides high-quality, flexible connectivity solutions to residential, small to large enterprise and wholesale carrier customers. The company’s extensive network offers high-speed Ethernet, dedicated internet access, hosted voice and UCaaS, dark fiber, wavelength and data center connectivity services. Last year, the company doubled the speed of its lowest-priced symmetrical internet service for no additional cost. The Lightspeed 500 Mbps home internet package is now offered for the same price as its previous 250 Mbps package. In 2022, the company was awarded two broadband projects by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and the Broadband Expansions Authority to reduce the digital divide in rural Ohio.
www.hotwirecommunications.com 800-409-4733; 800-355-5668
Services/Products: Residential, commercial and municipal high-speed data; network management; Wi-Fi solutions; security; whole unit/home automation; digital voice and HD IPTV video services
Hotwire Communications is a pioneering fiber broadband provider, providing fiber-based telecommunications services since 2002, and is one of the largest and oldest independent providers of FTTP communications solutions in the U.S. It offers services to private residential communities, condominiums, apartments, hotels, multitenant commercial buildings, government buildings, student housing, and senior and assisted living facilities. Florida-based Hotwire Communications’ network footprint reaches across Florida, Georgia, Texas, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and California, and new states are added to the company’s growing network annually. Hotwire owns and operates its redundant fiber backbone network, which it monitors 24/7/365. The company designs, builds and operates telecommunications and in-home entertainment services as a competitive local exchange carrier and franchised cable operator under its Fision brand. Hotwire offers a full suite of services, including multi-gigabit internet, crystal-clear voice, HD and 4K-capable IPTV, and advanced home automation and security solutions.
Already operating in nearly 700 communities, it announced a partnership and new investment from Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Blackstone Infrastructure Partners in 2021 and initiated new deployments starting in Florida. Since launching the first residential service in 2014, Hotwire has been an early adopter of gigabit services. In late 2021, it became the first ISP in the U.S. to deploy Nokia’s 25G PON equipment. Hotwire will initially use the 25G PON technology to support symmetrical 10 Gbps services. The provider has set North and South Carolina as critical targets from a geographic expansion perspective. Building on its presence in Salisbury, Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, the provider also agreed with The Town of Highlands. It said these markets provide the perfect launch pad for statewide penetration in both states for fiber broadband. Hotwire is considered one of the best network providers for gamers for its high-speed services and low network latency and was once again recognized by PCMag as the Fastest Gaming ISP and Fastest ISP in the Southeast U.S. for 2023.
www.rrh.com 386-236-1500
Services/Products: Telecommunications network design for multifamily buildings, technology amenity engineering
Since 1990, MDU owners have called on InfiniSys, which focuses on building multifamily electronic architectures to differentiate their communities. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, the firm represents developers and property owners in negotiations with service providers and low-voltage contractors nationwide and oversees projects for financial stakeholders. As an independent technology consultant and developer, InfiniSys creates comprehensive, standards-based amenity solutions that include IoT, entertainment, access control, video surveillance, digital signage and messaging, energy management and leisure-space control systems for new and existing apartments, condominiums, student housing, senior housing, hotels, mixed-use developments and master-planned communities. The thousands of projects InfiniSys has undertaken since its inception (more than 1 million living units) have garnered many awards for forward-thinking solutions and exceptional customer support. InfiniSys works with electronics and infrastructure manufacturers, software developers and public and private service providers to create new products and service offerings, including IoT solutions. It developed and successfully trademarked both the NetworkedApartment and SmartApartment design brands.
www.ilsr.org; www.MuniNetworks.org 612-276-3456
Services/Products: Broadband policy research and municipal broadband advocacy
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance envisions thriving, diverse, equitable communities. It works to build local power to fight national control. It partners with allies across the country to create a U.S. economy driven by local priorities in a way that is accountable to people and the planet. ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks (CBN) Initiative focuses on regional policies that promote universal access to fast, affordable, reliable internet service. ILSR runs MuniNetworks.org, an essential source of information and analysis with daily stories and multimedia content focusing on municipal and cooperative ownership structures. The ILSR CBN team also produces resources and support for community broadband advocates, including publishing reports, policy briefs, a weekly Community Broadband Bits podcast, and a YouTube livestream show called Connect This! Over the past year, the CBN team has tracked how federal broadband funds in the American Rescue Plan Act and the recently passed Infrastructure & Investment Jobs Act are (or could be) used by states and local governments. Taken together, ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative has been instrumental in showing communities that controlling their broadband destinies is feasible and has the potential to improve local economies and quality of life.
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www.iqgeo.com 720-577-4732
Services/Products: Network management geospatial software that supports enterprise sales, planning, design, construction and maintenance processes for telecom and utility operators
Telecommunications and utility operators are “building better networks” with IQGeo’s software solutions. The ability to model any network requirement, integrate every system and data source, and support field and office teams are helping operators create future networks. The company’s solutions ensure greater cross-team collaboration and process efficiency throughout the network life cycle, from planning and design to construction, operations and sales. Whether for highly competitive fiber and 5G broadband rollouts or complex utility grid modernization projects, IQGeo’s enterprise solutions and OSPInsight fiber planning and design software are proven industry leaders. The company partners with large multinationals and small, regional operators to deliver the digital innovation they need to increase network resilience, operational safety and business ROI. IQGeo’s latest release of Network Manager Telecom accelerates fiber deployment by helping broadband operators rapidly establish a clear, competitive advantage and hit revenue targets.
In 2022, IQGeo announced the acquisition of Comsof and its fiber optic network automated planning and design software. That same year, Centillion Solutions and Overstory became the latest members of IQGeo’s certified partner ecosystem, which provides customers with access to an increasingly diverse range of certified technology and services. IQGeo also partnered with Brightspeed to give geospatial software to the company’s multistate fiber optics network buildout. This year, the company announced that it received Carbon Neutral Organization status for its 2022 carbon footprint assessment for the second consecutive year.
Headquartered in Cambridge, England, IQGeo posted revenue of $34 million in 2022, up from $14.8 million in 2021. With 60,000 active users and more than 320-plus telecom and utility customers, IQGeo markets its products in North America, Europe and Japan.
www.khlaw.com 202-434-4100
Services/Products: Legal services, public policy advocacy
Keller and Heckman, founded in 1962, is an international law firm with a broad practice in regulatory law, public policy and litigation. From offices in Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Boulder, Colorado; Brussels and Shanghai, it represents global companies, trade associations and service providers or users in various industries, including telecommunications. Keller and Heckman is a pioneer in using interdisciplinary approaches to solving problems, working with in-house or outside experts on matters of technical complexity. Baller Stokes & Lide merged into Keller and Heckman in 2020, adding its long, consistent record of supporting the use of advanced broadband to drive the development of economically strong local communities. The firm represents public, cooperative and private entities in a broad range of communications matters nationally and in more than 40 states.
During the last three decades, the now-combined Keller and Heckman team has worked on more than 100 advanced public broadband initiatives and partnerships, including many of the leading projects in the U.S. The firm’s attorneys have also participated in most federal- and state-level battles involving restrictions on local internet choice, and they regularly advise clients on funding, infrastructure (poles, conduits, towers, etc.), licensing, emergency management, cybersecurity, privacy and related matters. As founder and president of the U.S. Broadband Coalition, Jim Baller played a leading role in forging a national consensus on the need for a national broadband strategy and the framework for such a strategy. He is also co-founder and president of the 650-member Coalition for Local Internet Choice, which works to preserve and protect the right of local governments to make the critical broadband infrastructure decisions that will affect their communities for decades to come. In-house broadband and telecom counsel and regulatory affairs personnel benefit from the firm’s near-daily digest (www.khlaw.com/practices/telecommunications/digest) and its telecom blog (www.beyondtelecomlawblog.com).
www.kgpco.com 800-755-1950; 800-328-5142
Services/Products: Equipment for wireline and wireless networks; inventory management, logistics, site development, sourcing, supply chain management
Founded in 1973, KGPCo provides network transformation and supply chain solutions for the communications industry in U.S. and Canadian markets. The company enables customers to build, optimize and transform their networks by providing a single brand to complement network solutions. The most extensive communications product distribution and service solution provider in the U.S., KGPCo combines a suite of technical strategy and implementation services with a global logistics network and a portfolio of technology partnerships. The company’s Solution Innovation Center evaluates, designs and engineers cloud, virtualization and disaggregated solutions developed and operationalized in the live network environment. KGPCo’s White Box solution delivers a first-class experience to end users and reduces service provider equipment expenditures by allowing alternative hardware to be used with customers’ current or related software. KGPCo’s Disaster Preparedness and Restoration Program helps telecommunication carriers and network service providers repair and rebuild networks quickly following severe weather events and other natural disasters. The company is headquartered in Faribault, Minnesota.
www.lastmile.net 239-202-2975
Services/Products: Management partnering, consulting and capital-funding services
Last Mile Communications (LMC), an international telecommunications management partnering and consulting firm, offers telecom and cable customers experience across technology, sales and marketing, customer relations, finance and accounting, government and investor relations, business administration, programmer and vendor relations and executive-level management. Altice USA, Comporium, C Spire, Liberty Global, Lumen and TDS Telecom are among its top telecom and cable clients. The company also works directly with several high-profile investment and banking firms, including AIG, Argus Capital, Boston Omaha, Deutsche Bank, M/C Partners, Moorgate Securities, Morgan Stanley and UBS. LMC offers three service lines: management partnering, consulting and capital funding. LMC personnel manage the delivery of broadband services, data management and mobile communications. The company’s consulting arm provides hands-on industry expertise to private-equity investors, investment banks, institutional investors, broadband operators and telcos. It can also raise capital to start, continue and enhance the growth of broadband and telecommunications opportunities.
LMC’s clients continued to expand their networks via acquisitions and network builds. i3 Broadband, a Midwest FTTH provider, acquired Big River Broadband and its wholly owned subsidiary Circle Fiber, a fiber internet provider serving southeast Missouri communities. The combined companies allow i3 Broadband, which will invest an additional $100 million to grow the southeast Missouri market to further expand its fiber footprint to residential and commercial customers across central Illinois and eastern Missouri. Earlier, Boston Omaha launched Fiber Fast Homes. This provider partners with homebuilders and developers to build FTTH networks for two main types of builders: new home community builders and developers and built-to-rent communities. Meanwhile, Smartaira, a communitywide Managed Wi-Fi provider for multifamily properties, acquired Direct Plus to expand Smartaira’s East Coast footprint and increase its bulk internet and entertainment subscription base in the MDU market.
www.lumosfiber.com 855-465-8667
Services/Products: Residential and business-class fiber optic internet and Wi-Fi
Lumos is a top 100 percent fiber optic internet and total-home Wi-Fi service provider in the Mid-Atlantic. The company offers customers the fastest, symmetrical multi-gig speeds built on a fiber optic network backed by local, expert customer care teams. Today, Lumos’ rapidly growing footprint reaches more than 225,000 residential and business properties across North Carolina and Virginia. The company aims to reach 1 million new households by 2027. Recently, Lumos announced expansions into new markets, including Alleghany Highlands, Virginia; Spartanburg, South Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; and Orange, Johnston and Harnett counties in North Carolina.
Lumos brings ultra-fast fiber internet to areas that rely on traditional technologies, including cable and DSL connections. The company is working to bridge the digital divide by offering affordable plans for all families, from 100 Mbps to gigabit connections. Lumos’ newest 100 Mbps plan will be free for eligible households when paired with the Affordable Connectivity Program’s $30 per month federal credit. The company is headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, in the heart of the state’s Triad region, and employs more than 400 people across the Mid-Atlantic.
www.lusfiber.com 337-993-4237
Services/Products: Municipal fiber network provider
LUS Fiber, a leading provider of internet, video and phone services, operates one of the nation’s largest municipal FTTH networks. The network leverages leading-edge technology to offer symmetrical speeds of up to 25 Gbps to end users, setting new standards for connectivity speed and reliability. Following the substantial funding received from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration in 2021, LUS Fiber sustained its momentum by securing an additional $13 million from the Louisiana Office of Broadband Development & Connectivity’s Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) grant program – further enhancing LUS Fiber’s capability to continue addressing ever-present connectivity needs in the region.
In addition, LUS Fiber’s expansion is marked by ambitious infrastructure developments, including the construction of more than 30,000 feet of fiber optic cable each week focused on facilitating more than 20 communities in southern Louisiana. The company plans to continue its strong commitment to community growth by hiring local talent and expanding its customer service centers into rural territories often overlooked by competitors. In a significant stride for diversity and representation, LUS Fiber broke the glass ceiling by hiring its first female line worker. This landmark hire underscores LUS Fiber’s commitment to inclusivity and gender equality within the industry, making it not just a service provider but a beacon for progress and community development.
www.magellanbroadband.com 888-960-5299
Services/Products: Broadband and telecom planning, deployment and management services
Magellan provides planning, engineering, grant development, implementation and management of the fastest, most technologically advanced fiber and broadband networks for utilities, municipalities, electrical co-ops and tribal governments. The company’s mission is to connect every community, one at a time, to the digital economy so that no one is left behind. Magellan’s work ensures that communities can access every opportunity the internet offers to thrive in the connected world. Its turnkey implementation services give clients a single partner that manages every step in the process and ensures their broadband goals are achieved. Magellan provides clients with a complete portfolio of comprehensive fiber and broadband solutions. Its turnkey services – including funding application assistance, design and engineering, construction and project management, construction inspection and marketing services – build and support North America’s fastest, most technologically advanced fiber optic and broadband networks. In 2022, Magellan was acquired by ENTRUST Solutions Group and became part of the newly formed EN Communications sector, which showcases the extensive resources available for delivering fiber broadband networks to cooperatives, municipalities, investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and tribal entities. Whatever the project – fiber distribution, broadband infrastructure, backbone line project, or smart cities – we deliver it to meet the client’s requirements on time and with high quality.
www.mastec.com 305-599-1800
Services/Products: FTTx deployment, outside-plant cabling, engineering, inside-plant construction and installation, joint trench systems, splicing, testing, systems integration, fulfillment, maintenance
MasTec provides engineering, design, construction and maintenance services for wireline and wireless communications infrastructure, including cell tower construction, fiber optic cable installation, wireline construction and emergency maintenance services across the country. The company enhanced its workforce to meet ongoing, last-mile FTTH and upcoming 5G wireless demands. MasTec’s fiber business focuses on two initiatives: deploying high-speed services to homes mainly through fiber and building fiber backbones to support wireless backhaul and fronthaul services in anticipation of upcoming 5G network makes. Having seen what it says is a “considerable backlog related to this initiative,” MasTec expects significant growth in these areas as it goes from early-stage engineering into construction. In 2022, MasTec completed its acquisition of Henkels & McCoy Group, Inc., one of the largest utility contractors in the U.S. This year, MasTec CFO George L. Pita retired, and the company promoted Paul DiMarco to executive vice president and CFO. Headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, MasTec supplies crews and equipment to its customers 24/7. The company has nearly 22,000 employees and reported 2022 revenue of $9.8 billion.
www.maxcell.us 888-387-3828
Services/Products: Fabric innerduct, conduit technology
MaxCell is changing the economics of network construction with its flexible, multicelled, fabric inner-duct solution, which allows increased cable density in a conduit and preserves space for future bandwidth expansion. The product’s fabric construction conforms to the cables placed within it, significantly reducing wasted space compared with rigid innerduct. Available in sizes to fit all conduits, MaxCell adds pathways quickly and is installed efficiently and cost-effectively. MaxSpace is a no-dig conduit space recovery solution designed to safely remove rigid innerduct from around active fiber cables with little to no load on the cable and no interruption of service. In Fort Collins, Colorado, broadband subsidiary Connexion leveraged the MaxCell inner-duct solution to co-locate fiber cables alongside Fort Collins Light & Power’s power cabling. Using MaxCell, Conexion’s fiber contractor AEG (now Y-COM) could co-locate fiber and power cables while building on and improving the municipality’s infrastructure to support broadband services.
MaxCell’s new Data Center Edge is a hyperscale fabric innerduct solution designed to safely install high-value, high-density, pre-connectorized fiber cabling in conduit-based network infrastructure. Introduced earlier this year, MaxWrap is a new OSP fabric mesh solution applied around the cable as it is pulled into the conduit and eliminates the need for a two-step cable-pulling process. More than 600 million feet and 1 billion pathway feet of MaxCell innerduct have been successfully installed around the globe in a variety of applications, including cable, telecom, wireless backhaul, power/utilities, municipalities, universities, corporate and hospital campuses, and military and government installations.
Services/Products: Engineering and consulting services
Michael Baker International is a leading provider of engineering and consulting services spanning five distinct verticals: infrastructure, design-build services, federal programs and services, consulting and technology solutions, and sustainable and resilient solutions. The firm’s practices encompass all facets of public and private infrastructure. The company can conduct design and civil engineering for diverse bridge, highway, water, rail, transit and aviation projects. It also offers planning, architecture, environmental and construction services and program management.
Michael Baker supports government organizations in planning for and managing the rollout of equitable broadband projects and programs for its clients’ unserved and underserved constituencies. The firm supports all levels of government and community organizations through broadband project identification, access to funding and initiatives designed to provide affordable and equitable access to broadband and related digital devices. Michael Baker supports the entire broadband life cycle – from developing a five-year roadmap to managing broadband public-private partnership buildouts to completion. Michael Baker currently supports broadband clients across eight states spanning from coast to coast.
Last year, Michael Baker partnered with Pennsylvania’s Fayette County commissioners to develop a survey and associated marketing materials to help officials identify areas in which investments are needed to ensure all residents have access to high-speed, affordable internet. The company is also working with a task force on a feasibility report that will expand internet access across the townships of Ligonier, Fairfield and Derry in Westmoreland County. In 2023, the firm has supported a diverse number of projects, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program planning, broadband planning, digital equity planning, stakeholder engagement, community outreach and GIS broadband mapping.
www.michels.us 920-583-3132
Services/Products: Fiber optic network construction, including outside-plant construction, structured cabling and fiber splicing and testing
In 1983, family-owned Michels, based in Brownsville, Wisconsin, became one of the first companies to construct fiber lines. Today, Michels Power, Inc., one of the Michels Family of Companies, builds thousands of miles of fiber optic and broadband networks yearly. Michels is a full-service construction company with clients that include oil and gas, other utilities and more. It serves all sectors of the communications industry – local telephone companies, broadband and cable TV providers, schools and enterprises. The company’s construction design and management services include all inside- and outside-plant engineering phases, including plowing, trenching, splicing, terminating, testing, constructing aerial lines, directional boring, rail plowing, installing cable, conducting site work and providing FTTx solutions. In addition, it assists clients with forecasting growth, verifying existing facilities, investigating potential migration strategies and estimating the costs of numerous deployment options. The company also has a solid dedication to safety. It recently received the 2023 National Electrical Contractors Association NECA Safety Excellence Award. Michels ranked 32nd on Engineering News-Record’s annual Top 400 Contractors list this year – the 18th year it has placed in the top 100. Michels has 8,000 employees and more than 40 regional offices throughout the U.S.
www.gomultilink.com 440-366-6966
Services/Products: Fiber distribution and cable management solutions, connectors, splice enclosures and cabinets; MDU enclosures; raceway and pathway solutions
A manufacturer of telecommunications network components, Multilink, founded in 1983, focuses on fiber-management solutions. Multilink’s customers include independent telcos, RBOCs, utilities, local area network providers and cable MSOs. Its products are designed to meet the needs of both legacy plant and new technology applications. The company’s engineering staff works closely with customers to develop innovative designs and application-oriented products to provide cost-effective solutions. Multilink’s EB1 series is a reliable standby power supply that includes the EB1s and the new EB1LP. Both have a removable inverter module, 4-line LCD and six status LEDs that provide input, output and battery voltage status and communicate with the transponder. Recent product introductions include the Surelight H-IP, a fiber optic drop-cable solution with a field-installable application with an OptiTap-compatible connector. Based in Elyria, Ohio, Multilink is a partner in Elyria Works Now, a public/private program to train residents for high-paying manufacturing jobs. Multilink is privately owned and has 200 employees.
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www.netceed.com 833-878-2267
Services/Products: Telecom and broadband materials distribution and supply chain management solutions
Netceed is a global leader in telecom and broadband solutions, offering a one-stop-shop, core-to-network edge portfolio of products and services. Leveraging intelligent distribution systems, state-of-the-art supply chain solutions, and customized products and services, Netceed is redefining what a materials distributor and value-added services provider looks like. Its distribution and logistics footprint includes 40 locations across 15 countries, strategic relationships with nearly 1,000 manufacturing and supply chain partners, and an enhanced service portfolio – all while staying true to its 30-year legacy of succeeding together with its valued customers and partners. With certified engineers, technicians and experienced management and staff, Netceed can help plan, deploy and maintain broadband networks. In addition, its expansive range of logistics services provides worry-free supply chain management.
www.networkconnex.com 888-638-1198
Services/Products: Design and engineering; fiber and wireless construction; fiber placement, splicing, testing and acceptance; construction management; ongoing maintenance; emergency restoration
Network Connex leverages the synergies of multiple operating divisions and a nationwide footprint to provide turnkey, digital communications infrastructure services throughout the U.S. and globally. A team of more than 1,000 seasoned professionals delivers exceptional results in inside- and outside-plant design, engineering, installation, construction, restoration and ongoing maintenance for fiber, wireless and data center applications. Its deep FTTH design and deployment expertise allows Network Connex to leverage its capabilities to benefit network operators and end users in every region. Offering professional services including site selection, utility coordination and public right-of-way permitting, design and engineering analysis, the team prepares for successful fiber network deployment before handing off to field crews specializing in fiber construction, backbone installation, splicing, placement and testing. Construction management and project management services keep each job on track to successful completion that supports community broadband ambitions and carrier market growth. Network Connex understands the importance of community connectivity and helps bridge the digital divide by working with fiber carriers, dark fiber providers, municipalities and utilities to develop smart, sustainable networks in urban, suburban and rural areas across the U.S. and beyond.
Regardless of service line, safety is paramount for Network Connex. Clients have peace of mind knowing that dedicated safety professionals designed daily work practices to achieve injury rates that are well below the industry average. Backed by these results, Network Connex has attracted partnerships with some of the most well-known players in digital communications. The company’s dedication to ensuring that employees get home safely each day supports the development of a committed, high-quality workforce and rapid business growth. In 2023, Network Connex expanded its operations by opening new locations in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. This expansion included hiring more than 80 new employees to support the region. The company has more than 20 years of experience serving the telecom industry and has completed numerous broadband deployments to connect community anchor institutions, homes and businesses. Network Connex remains committed to bridging the digital gap in rural and underserved communities, working closely with municipalities, ISPs, federal grant programs and other stakeholders.
www.nex-tech.com 785-567-4281; 877-625-7872
Services/Products: Internet, video, voice, mobile, home security and business services
With a passion for the local community and a dedication to delivering top-notch fiber internet connectivity at its core, Nex-Tech remains a leader among rural broadband companies. Since its foundation, Nex-Tech has been guided by a pioneering spirit and has worked to provide the best services for its members and customers. In 1996, Nex-Tech became the first provider in the nation to offer FTTH in Hill City, Kansas. For more than 70 years, Nex-Tech has pursued continual growth and has deployed fiber to more than 70 rural communities and underserved areas in central and western Kansas. Current fiber construction projects include builds in Great Bend and Salina, Kansas. This year, Nex-Tech was awarded more than $10 million by the Kansas Capital Project Funds Broadband Infrastructure Program to build fiber to rural Oberlin, rural Saline County and Gem, Kansas. Nex-Tech is dedicated to offering speeds up to 1 Gig and premium TV and voice services to all communities it serves.
Nex-Tech’s expertise in the telecommunications industry expands beyond Kansas residents to local businesses. As a provider of managed IT, cloud phone, cybersecurity, and physical security and surveillance, this Lenora-based company equips businesses with the tools they need to focus on the growth of their operations and revenue. As Nex-Tech expands its residential and business services, it maintains involvement with industry organizations. Nex-Tech’s CEO and general manager, Jimmy Todd, was recently named the 2023 board chairman of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative and the vice chairman of the Fiber Broadband Association.
www.nokia.com 888-665-4228
Services/Products: Wireline and wireless network equipment, software for network management, IoT technology, cloud solutions
Nokia, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is a major wireless and wireline network equipment provider – the largest broadband equipment supplier based outside China. It has a global presence with operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. In 2021, Nokia organized into four business groups structured around customer offerings: Mobile Networks, Network Infrastructure, Cloud and Network Services and Nokia Technologies. The fixed networks business is part of its Network Infrastructure group and includes fiber, selected wireless access and xDSL upgrades. Nokia targets 10G in-home wireless broadband; last year, it launched the Beacon 10, its first gateway supporting Wi-Fi 6E and high-capacity mesh networking. This tri-band device has 10 Gbps throughput and a 10G WAN interface to pair with 10 Gbps fiber modems for multi-gigabit services. Nokia, relatively new to the cloud software services business, upgraded its Wi-Fi Cloud Controller to act as a User Services Platform (USP) controller. USP is the standard protocol (Broadband Forum TR-369) to manage services and configurations in network devices (either remotely by a cloud application or locally by a mobile app). Nokia’s USP agent in the Beacon 10 is based on the open-source OB-USPA so that any USP controller can manage it. Nokia also established an ecosystem of app developers to help service providers give customers value-added services such as cybersecurity applications from F-Secure.
Nokia introduced the industry’s first 25G PON technology in 2020 (deployed early in Chattanooga). It announced 100G PON over a single fiber wavelength in 2022. But Nokia also remains a market leader in copper technologies and has taken a leading position in the 5G (and near-5G) fixed wireless access market. The new ReefShark system-on-chip powers the new AirScale 5G portfolio. In Rotterdam last year, KPN demonstrated 20 Gbps in a field trial with the Caresse animal hospital – needed high-resolution images to be accessed in the cloud. KPN used Nokia 25G PON technology over its existing fiber network. Nokia’s Quillon chip allows interfacing with copper, and the 25G PON can work alongside GPON and XGS-PON on the same fiber powered by the same access node.
Many providers (including Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications in Vietnam, which started a nationwide deployment this May) have been using Nokia technology to deliver 10 Gbps fiber services to end users. Nokia is also building a vast network covering farms in two states in India. Its submarine networks business remains the market leader. Operating in about 130 countries, Nokia closed 2022 with revenue of about $27 billion (a third of it in North America). It averaged about 87,000 employees in 2022 (10,500 in North America), with an annual R&D budget of approximately $4.5 billion and R&D facilities in Europe, North America and Asia.
www.ofsoptics.com 888-342-3743 (inside the U.S.); 770-798-5555 (outside the U.S.)
Services/Products: Optical fiber, optical fiber cable, fusion splicers, fiber management and connectivity products, network design services
OFS’s heritage, traced to the original Bell Labs, includes research and development in fiber optics. Wholly owned by Furukawa Electric of Japan, OFS designs, manufactures and supplies optical fiber, fiber cable, specialty photonics and optical connectivity technology, providing solutions for outside- and inside-plant networks. Products include EZ-Bend ultra-bend-insensitive (minimum 2.5 mm bend radius) optical cables and InvisiLight solutions for nearly invisible in-MDU and in-home fiber deployments; the version introduced in 2020 uses 0.6 mm fiber strands. Last August, OFS introduced Go! Foton’s Midspan Clamshell Hardened Terminal (MCHT), an integrated connectivity solution for network projects. The Midspan Clamshell Hardened Terminal offers hardened connectivity without hardened connectors.
OFS introduced its first hollow-fiber cable for low-latency, high-speed communications early in 2020. It also introduced Rollable Ribbon cables, assemblies and new connectivity solutions for MDU and SFU applications. The OFS professional services group designs and builds FTTx networks for MDU and SFU applications. Headquartered near Atlanta, OFS has North America, Europe and Africa facilities. For the fiscal year (FY) ending March 31, 2023, it had $7 billion in revenue – almost $1.1 billion was for fiber and associated products in its Communications Solutions segment. It noted in its FY2023 report that although the fiber and cable business has been slow to improve because of the delay in improvement in North America, from FY2021 to FY2022, the fiber and cable business has almost doubled in terms of operating income. Looking forward, Furukawa sees an upside for the communications business. In the 2025 Mid-Term Plan, the company is targeting sales of the rollable ribbon cable to account for 50 percent of total sales in FY2025, and improvement to the overall business is progressing as expected. The company has 51,000 employees worldwide.
“This is an exciting time to be in the fiber to the home business. With the infusion of federal funds into broadband infrastructure, historically underserved communities are finally being connected with high-speed internet services.” — Beni Blell, VP of sales and marketing, Hexatronic
Services/Products: Broadband installations, drops and splicing
On Trac is a proven leader in connectivity with a core focus on broadband fulfillment services such as drops, splicing and installations. The company was built through the unique and extensive experiences and the deeply rooted convictions of its founders. These dynamics are echoed in the corporate name, ON TRAC, which reflects a Trust, Rewards, Accountability and Consistency philosophy. On Trac’s service history for the past 20 years includes serving more than 30 specific fiber broadband deployments with variances of customer specifications on all phases and types of work. To date, On Trac has serviced more than 1 million fiber broadband addresses nationwide with an ever-expanding footprint. This number represents both current and historic client partnerships. The company services more than 475 addresses daily in various operations and communities. On Trac understands the importance of quality, image, customer experience and safety while fitting into the culture of its client partners. This has led to successful relationships with many public and private fiber broadband deployments. On Trac is committed to the fiber broadband industry and serving its client partners with their best interests at heart.
www.onugsolutions.com 919-876-5455
Services/Products: Outside-plant engineering, planning and design; project management; feasibility studies; consulting services; quality assurance; construction
ONUG Communications is approaching its 24th year as a national engineering and design firm in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company relocated its headquarters to a larger facility in Raleigh to accommodate its rapid growth. Over the years, ONUG has expanded its role with major clients such as Google Fiber, AT&T, Brightspeed, Lumen and Verizon. Beyond working with these national providers, ONUG works on various projects for regional telcos such as Lumos/NorthState, Shentel, Ritter, Fastwyre and Comporium. ONUG also partners with rural ILECs, campuses, retirement communities, local/state utilities, electrical co-ops, municipalities, and government agencies such as North Carolina-DOT and Northwest Fiberworx in Vermont. Services provided for ONUG’s clients include feasibility studies, overall plans, designs, and help navigating federal and state FTTH grant processes.
In 2022, ONUG planned projects that passed 127,970 plus homes and businesses with FTTH services and created innovative designs that included micro-trenching for both urban and rural environments. ONUG continues to provide pioneering techniques such as soft-scape (minimal depth and intrusion) and “no-terminal” designs. ONUG has also participated in developing fiber optic planning, small-cell predictive planning, and cellular data mining. Additionally, it consulted on middle-mile projects, bringing fiber to unreached areas by utilizing significant interstates and highways for FTTx distribution by ISPs. ONUG’s ongoing partnerships help contribute to its success. ONUG is on the leading edge of automated planning and design and exploring options for AI in optimization and deployment. Daniel Huffman, ONUG’s owner and president, continues to provide fiber optic training to companies across the country through his partnership with Light Brigade.
www.pavlovmedia.com 800-677-6812
Services/Products: Internet, voice and IPTV video services for cities, MDUs, businesses and homes
Pavlov Media is a network provider that designs, builds, operates and supports high-speed networks for MDUs, businesses, homes and cities. Founded in 1994, Pavlov Media is the nation’s largest private provider of broadband services to off-campus student housing communities. It builds and runs networks for more than 750 MDU properties in 44 states and Canada. Pavlov Media works directly with communities on municipal fiber projects to develop and manage gigabit cities. More than 325,000 residents use the Pavlov Media network, connected to the company’s 100 Gbps national fiber backbone (with fiber routes and POP locations that bring Tier-1 capabilities to markets previously unserved by other carriers), a 100 Gbps link between Chicago and Indianapolis, and a data center in Orlando. It has stated a goal to pass 1 million premises. Earlier this year, Pavlov closed an investment transaction with Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) to support further growth of fiber-based internet and video services to off-campus student housing. It currently serves approximately 800 MDU buildings in the off-campus housing market, with more than 275,000 beds, across more than 150 markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Pavlov Media is a full-service network provider whose staff directly manages all aspects of its fiber optic connections to homes, businesses and communities. Its new headquarters in Champaign, Illinois, is home to engineers who design the networks, drill operators, field technicians and installers who wire buildings. The network operations center and customer support are there as well. Earlier this year, Pavlov named MDU broadband veteran Bryan Rader as president of MDU. Pavlov Media has a strong history of business expansion through organic acquisitions and stable investments, including IPTV software provider Singularity, Simplified Technologies and Tallahassee-based Velocity Online in 2020 and Texas provider Clarus Broadband in 2021, all expanding its presence in the MDU, business and home fiber markets. More recently, the service provider launched fiber network builds in Fisher, Illinois, and Lake Cities, Texas, that will serve 900 and 11,719 homes and businesses respectively.
www.ptsupply.com 800-238-7514
Services/Products: Electronics, inside plant, outside plant, premises equipment, services, tools and safety; key solutions: AC/DC power systems, broadband networking, data centers, fiber, OSP/FTTx, PTMI managed inventory, wireless
Power & Tel is a 59-year-old distributor headquartered on the edge of Memphis, Tennessee, one of the distribution capitals of America. The company has thousands of in-stock products ready to ship from strategically located warehouses across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. In 2022, Power & Tel and the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC) announced that NCTC members will receive access to stocking programs and expanded aggregate buying power on a wide selection of quality network products. Power & Tel prides itself on its history of family ownership and its ability to offer end-to-end solutions to the communications industry. Solving supply chain challenges is Power & Tel’s core strength. Last year, Power & Tel’s customer Allo Communications was featured in February’s Business in Focus magazine publication as a leading provider in high-speed fiber networks in the Midwestern U.S. In addition, the Telecommunications Industry Association recognized Power & Tel as the 2022 winner of its Corporate Sustainability award.
www.ppc-online.com 315-431-7200; 800-800-6652
Services/Products: Fiber cable and connectors, microduct, enclosures, cabinets, optical passives, optical splitters, fiber management, coaxial cable and connectors, amplifiers, hardline cable and connectors, hardware, filters, category cable and connectors, tools and more
PPC Broadband, a core product brand within Belden’s Broadband Solutions business, is a leading manufacturer and developer of connectivity and network optimization solutions for worldwide broadband and wireless service providers. PPC offers award-winning xTTx designs for fiber optics, construction hardware, ancillary products and more through technical leadership and innovative services. PPC continues to expand its fiber product roadmap and holds more patents in connector technology than any other company worldwide.
PPC also achieved TL 9000 certification in multiple facilities, covering most of its fiber products portfolio, including its fiber optic cables, cable assemblies, passive optical devices, enclosures and optical assemblies. Belden maintains PPC locations in the U.S., China, Denmark, Germany, India, Poland, Tunisia and the UK. PPC and Sichert make up Belden’s Broadband Solutions to deliver unparalleled service to customers worldwide.
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www.plp.com 440-461-5200
Services/Products: Fiber optic and copper splice closures, high-speed cross-connect devices, cable anchoring, control hardware systems and asset inspections
PLP is a worldwide designer, manufacturer and supplier of high-quality products and systems used to construct and maintain overhead and underground networks for the communication and energy industries. PLP’s communications segment is trusted to protect critical connections for telecommunications network operators, government agencies and broadband service providers. PLP offers innovative communications products and services, including the COYOTE line of fiber optic closures, FIBERLIGN hardware solutions and comprehensive, drone-based asset inspections. In 2022, the company announced a $16 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in Rogers, Arkansas. The expansion will increase PLP’s manufacturing capacity and provide additional warehouse space. Last year the company also acquired Delta Conectores, S.A. de C.V., expanding its existing substation product offering. PLP has teamed up with the Fiber Broadband Association to provide hands-on training at Wilson Community College in Wilson, North Carolina, as part of a new training program for those interested in pursuing a career in the fiber optic industry. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, PLP was founded in 1947 and has grown into a global corporation with offices and manufacturing facilities in more than 20 countries. Net sales for 2022 were $637 million.
www.prysmiangroup.com 859-572-8000; 800-713-5312
Services/Products: Optical fiber and telecommunications cables
With almost 140 years of experience, sales of more than $13 billion and nearly 29,000 employees in more than 50 countries and 112 plants, Prysmian Group offers a wide range of products, services, technologies and know-how. Prysmian manufactures cables and accessories for voice, video and data transmission, offering a range of optical fibers, optical and copper cables and connectivity systems. In addition, it provides underground and submarine cables and systems for power transmission and distribution, special cables for applications in several industries and medium- and low-voltage cables for the construction and infrastructure sectors. In 2019, Prysmian debuted its 6,912-fiber MassLink Cable with FlexRibbon technology. Ribbons are rolled up and packed together in small-diameter sub-units but still provide the advantages of mass fusion splicing. Last year, the company released ezMicroduct, its smallest microduct cable with 288 fibers and an outer diameter of 8 mm. It also extended its Sirocco Extreme range of microduct cables to include its latest 576f cable, which boasts 576 fibers in a diameter of 8.2 mm.
The Mexican government-run Comisión Federal de Electricidad selected the vendor in 2020 to connect remote regions with high-speed broadband. Prysmian also supplies 770 km of submarine telecom cables for the Norte Conectado project awarded by Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa, a Brazilian internet provider connecting the city of Macapá to Santarém and Alenquer, which are in the north of the Amazon region. Through this strategy, Prysmian directly enables connectivity across 59 municipalities in northern Brazil, possibly extending it to other Amazonian countries. It also continues to drive fiber innovations. In 2021, Prysmian joined Nokia Bell Labs and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology to demonstrate one petabit per second transmission over an optical fiber with standard dimensions. Last year, the company announced it is investing an additional $30 million to the $85 million already reported to increase optical fiber cable capacity and capability in plants in North America.
In 2023, Prysmian launched Ecoslim, the fiber-optic system with up to 90 percent recycled plastic and up to 25 percent reduced diameter. The company also announced the launch of the first optical cables that are certified green, thanks to its ECO CABLE label, the first proprietary green product label in the cable industry. Prysmian’s profits and cash generation for 2022 grew by more than 50 percent, exceeding all expectations and resulting in the company’s best year ever. Prysmian is headquartered in Milan, Italy.
www.q.com/connectedcommunities 833-250-6306
Services/Products: Fiber internet, voice and 360 Wi-Fi
Leveraging the fiber network and infrastructure from its parent company, Lumen Technologies, Quantum Fiber delivers symmetrical, subscription-based fiber internet solutions and services to residences and small businesses. In September 2020, CenturyLink rebranded under three separate entities: Lumen Technologies, CenturyLink and Quantum Fiber. CenturyLink is a legacy telecom business. Quantum Fiber is a fully digital service marketing fiber broadband services to customers in metro areas throughout the U.S., including Seattle, Portland, Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Orlando, Omaha, Phoenix, Boise and Minneapolis. The company offers one of the fastest internet speeds in the U.S. with upload and download speeds up to 8 Gbps available to select residents and small businesses in cities near Denver, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Seattle, with more cities to come.
Transforming from CenturyLink Fiber, the Quantum Fiber Connected Communities division works with builders, developers, and property owners ready to modernize their properties with fiber and accommodate future greenfield builds. The company works with MDU and single-family home communities throughout the nation that are close to the Lumen fiber network. A vital goal of the Quantum Fiber broadband expansion is to refresh its focus on the MDU segment and Instant Internet (formerly known as CenturyLink ON) and introduce Instant 360 Wi-Fi with multi-gig capabilities to its rapid-service-provisioning platform. Following an assessment, Quantum Fiber delivers service to MDU properties via Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or a combination of both, including propertywide Wi-Fi. Grand Central at the Junction, a new development in Wentzville, Missouri, is one MDU property taking advantage of Quantum Fiber’s broadband service. Headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, Quantum Fiber’s parent company, Lumen, has about 30,000 employees and posted operating revenue of $17.48 billion in 2022.
www.rendernetworks.com 833-293-9013
Services/Products: Network design and construction solutions
Render’s network construction and operations platform enables telecommunications and utility network operators and construction teams to eliminate manual processes from construction and deploy the highest-quality fiber networks more efficiently than ever before. Using GIS, mobile and automation technologies, Render’s technology transforms geospatial network designs into deliverable work. It digitizes real-time data flow between the office and the field, delivering a new level of resource efficiency and project visibility. In April, Render expanded its capability to include select network operations and maintenance support. The expanded offering enables operators to expedite customer connections and maintain and enhance the integrity of geospatial network records throughout the network life cycle.
The Render platform has delivered more than 34 projects and successfully accelerated the delivery of fiber and wireless infrastructure to connect more than a million premises across the U.S., Australia and the UK. The Render platform has delivered broadband connectivity to more than 300,000 U.S. households and businesses, with more than 700,000 completed construction tasks. Render continues to evolve.
Through its partnership with Irby Utilities, Render has become involved in various electric cooperative FTTH deployments in Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi, including Clay County Electric Cooperative Corporation, Craighead Electric Cooperative Corporation, First Electric Cooperative Corporation, Southwest Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation (STEMC), Tippah Electric Power Association, and Woodruff Electric Cooperative Corporation. STEMC, for one, leveraged Irby Utilities and Render Networks as a tool in its network recovery efforts following an F3 tornado in rural Tennessee earlier this year. Render was founded in 2013. Its fast-growing team is headquartered in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and Melbourne, Australia.
www.sertexbroadband.com 860-317-1006 ext. 118
Services/Products: Network design and engineering; aerial and underground construction; splicing, testing and documentation; equipment and service installations; operations and maintenance; 24/7/365 emergency restoration
Operating in the Northeastern U.S., Sertex Broadband Solutions builds and maintains high bandwidth telecommunications networks incorporating fiber optic and wireless technologies. It specializes in rural and remote buildouts in hard-to-reach locations, from the mountains to the ocean, providing the technology required for people and communities to thrive in the digital age. The company’s mission is to create telecommunication infrastructure that will provide exceptional and long-lasting value for its municipal, public power and telecommunications customers.
Over the past three decades, Sertex has constructed thousands of miles of fiber networks in remote areas and challenging environments. Some of the company’s most recent projects include the BroadbandBI network on Block Island (located 12 miles off the Rhode Island coast), the DVFiber network spanning 24 towns in southern Vermont, and the FiberSpring networks located in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. Sertex expertly constructs long-haul, BTOP middle-mile, hybrid fiber coax (HFC) and last-mile FTTH XGS PON networks. Its customer satisfaction is unmatched because the company empowers employees, team members and partners to devise high-value solutions and deliver exceptional service that exceeds expectations.
www.shentel.com 800-743-6835
Services/Products: Broadband internet, video and voice; fiber optic Ethernet, wavelength and leasing; tower co-location leasing
Headquartered in Edinburg, Virginia, Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) operates a digital wireless and wireline network in rural Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The company, formerly called Farmers Mutual Telephone System, was founded in 1902, and its goal was to bring telephone service to the countryside. Today, Shentel is a diversified telecommunications company providing internet and data services, local exchange telephone services, video, long distance services and leased tower facilities through a growing family of brands. It owns an extensive regional network with more than 8,300 route miles of fiber and more than 220 macro cellular towers.
Under the legacy Shentel brand, Shentel offers video, data and regulated and unregulated voice services through the cable network, as well as DSL internet access in some areas. Under the Glo Fiber brand, Shentel offers next-generation FTTH multi-gigabit broadband internet access, live streaming TV and digital home phone service. Glo Fiber provides the fastest available service to residents leveraging XGS-PON, a state-of-the-art technology capable of symmetrical internet speeds up to 10 Gbps. In April 2023, the company announced the launch of Glo Fiber’s symmetrical 5G fiber internet service across all its markets. More than 147,000 homes across Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania will have access to the fastest fiber speeds available in these markets. Shentel’s revenue for 2022 was $267.4 million.
www.smithville.com 812-876-2211; 800-742-4084
Services/Products: Smithville at Home includes: High-speed internet, managed Wi-Fi support, voice, home automation, security services, and streaming TV. Smithville at Work includes: Dedicated internet, point-to-point, DDoS protection, commercial security and hosted PBX
Privately held Smithville Communications, Indiana’s most prominent independent telecommunications firm, has nearly 200 employees and recently celebrated its 101st year in business. After serving generations of consumers, Smithville was an early adopter of implementing fiber optic technology and has built fiber to Indiana homes and businesses for more than two decades.
Smithville has placed more than 3,000 miles of fiber, making private investments of more than a quarter of a billion dollars. Called the “state champion of rural broadband” by Indiana’s lieutenant governor, Smithville continues its commitment to symmetrical gigabit projects, as demonstrated by a significant fiber overbuild in Jasper in 2021 and seven new subsequent self-funded fiber projects in the region, with an additional 1,578 rural homes passed. The company also continues to expand its gigabit fiber operations out of its Ellettsville headquarters near Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University.
Smithville is completing a continuing larger fiber initiative with the South-Central Indiana Rural Electric Membership Cooperative (REMC) in rural Monroe County. The partnership accelerates the delivery of fiber internet within the companies’ common service areas. In 2022, Wininger Construction partnered with Smithville to bring high-speed fiber broadband to a new housing development near WestGate@Crane Technology Park in Odon, Indiana, adjacent to the $2 billion Naval Surface Warfare Center. The project expanded in 2023, supporting much-needed housing for a $84 million microelectronics campus now under development in the rural tech park.
Smithville continues to see residential growth through its best speed available, no data caps residential service offerings. Smithville regularly invests in upgrading its legacy copper areas with fiber-to-the-cabinet initiatives to enhance speeds and capacity in rural areas. Well known for its locally sourced customer service, Smithville expanded its customer experience initiative to raise its already-high service bar. In 2023, the company launched its residential managed service, Wi-Fi+, and ancillary services, including self-monitoring camera products from Arlo and professionally monitored camera products from Resideo.
www.sonic.com 888-766-4233
Services/Products: 10-gig fiber internet access for homes and businesses, voice service, co-location, business networking
Based in the North Bay region of California, Sonic is the largest independent internet service provider in the state and has delivered internet and phone service to homes and businesses for more than 27 years. Sonic was founded on the belief that access to fast, reliable, affordable internet should be available to everyone. It is committed to building a wholly owned fiber optic network within business and residential communities. In 2021, The Berkeley Unified School District announced a partnership with Sonic to provide students with free high-speed fiber optic internet access for the remainder of the 2020–21 school year. Sonic’s pricing is unusual – in 2022, it began offering unlimited, uncapped, symmetrical 10-gigabit fiber internet service starting at $39.99 per month, making it the fastest, most affordable internet in the U.S. With its ongoing FTTH expansions, Sonic enhanced its product set by offering a powerful, whole-home Wi-Fi solution to improve performance. In 2021, Sonic doubled its fiber network throughout the Bay Area, expanding within the East Bay, North Bay, Peninsula and South Bay. Sonic has won Consumer Reports’ 2021 Best Overall Internet Service Provider and PCMag.com’s Best Gaming ISP for 2022.
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www.superioressex.com 770-657-6000
Services/Products: Premises and outside-plant fiber and copper cable products
Superior Essex designs, manufactures and supplies a large selection of premises and outside-plant fiber optic, copper and hybrid cable products. The company provides cable products to many of the largest service providers, and its cable products are installed in thousands of enterprises worldwide. Its cables enable 5G and broadband networks and distributed antenna systems. Superior Essex has a co-development and marketing alliance with Legrand North America, a global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures, called nCompass Systems, to create a suite of structured cabling systems. The company recently launched three lines of OSP hybrid cables, putting fiber and copper under one jacket to provide electrical power and high-quality data transmission. In 2023, Superior Essex announced a $73 million investment in expanding its Texas fiber cable manufacturing facility to help meet global demand for OSP fiber optic, drop and hybrid cables.
www.tdstelecom.com; www.tdsfiber.com 866-571-6662
Services/Products: Internet access, phone and TV services
TDS Telecommunications LLC (TDS Telecom/TDS) delivers high-speed internet, TV entertainment and digital phone services to a mix of rural and suburban communities across the U.S. With 1.2 million connections, TDS is a rapidly growing technology company. Powered by fiber optics and new industry-leading technologies, TDS delivers up to 8-gigabit internet speeds and offers internet-protocol-based TV entertainment solutions and phone services. TDS also offers businesses VoIP advanced communications solutions, dedicated internet service, data networking and hosted-managed services. TDS continues to extend fiber to the home across its service footprint, which grew 9 percent in 2022. Approximately 100 communities were in various stages of fiber development by the end of last year. The company remains focused on addressing broadband needs in its rural markets by upgrading copper networks with support from state broadband grant programs and meeting federal A-CAM broadband deployment obligations. TDS is also committed to helping the communities it serves, such as through its Week of Giving campaign, which last year resulted in more than $90,000 in donations to nonprofit organizations the week after Thanksgiving.
Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, TDS Telecom employs 3,500 people. It has been named Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality, Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion, and among the Top 50 Employers for Woman Engineers. TDS Telecom’s operating revenue for 2022 exceeded $1 billion. TDS Telecom is a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems Inc., a Fortune 1000 company. Founded in 1969, Telephone and Data Systems provided wireless, broadband, video and voice. It hosted and managed services to approximately 6 million connections nationwide through its businesses: UScellular, TDS Telecom and OneNeck IT Solutions.
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www.broadbandgroup.com 702-405-7000
Services/Products: Telecommunications master planning, network design and engineering, financial modeling, construction management
Founded in 1997, The Broadband Group (TBG) is a wired and wireless broadband consulting and advisory firm based in Las Vegas with offices in Denver. For more than 25 years, TBG has developed business plans, engineering design and network specifications, investment-grade financial models and sustainable deployment strategies for utilities, co-ops, master-planned communities, municipalities and service providers that seek to facilitate or deliver fiber broadband networks and related services. TBG’s wholly owned subsidiary, TBG Network Services (TBGNS), provides network construction management and oversight. TBGNS completed the Huntsville Utilities 966-mile, citywide, dark fiber network in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2022, TBGNS completed the City Utilities (Springfield, Missouri) 1,000-mile, citywide, dark fiber network. In the summer of 2022, TBG’s client, Colorado Springs Utilities, began deploying its 2,000-plus-mile citywide fiber network, one of its largest fiber networks for a municipally owned utility. In addition, TBGNS and Colorado Springs Utilities announced the launch of one of the largest fiber networks of its kind for a municipally owned utility. The enhanced citywide fiber network will allow Colorado Springs Utilities to serve its customers better and equip them for future requirements. Large-scale, master-planned communities around the U.S. call on TBG to create technology master plans that position wired and wireless connectivity as differentiated amenities.
www.ting.com/internet 855-846-4626
Services/Products: Gigabit internet access, video service
Ting, a division of Tucows, first launched its FTTH business with a bang in December 2014 when it acquired Blue Ridge InternetWorks, a competitive fiber provider in Charlottesville, Virginia. Committed to delivering fiber infrastructure and connectivity, with a refreshingly human customer experience and a solid local presence, Ting has rapidly expanded its national footprint, working closely with municipalities across the country. Today, the company proudly operates in 15 markets throughout California, Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. A large part of the company’s ethos is genuine community partnership and engagement. In each “Ting Town,” Ting works closely with community stakeholders and organizations to implement a variety of give-back and digital equity and inclusion programs. This includes everything from sponsoring local venues and events to charitable programs that reflect the heart of each community. During the pandemic, Ting even installed free, public Wi-Fi hotspots for a handful of communities in need to ensure reliable internet access during the pandemic.
In 2022, Ting announced it would be the initial anchor tenant on Colorado Springs Utilities’ new citywide fiber network, which is expected to pass more than 200,000 addresses and mark Ting’s largest city. In 2023, Ting lit up its first fiber internet customers in Alexandria, Virginia. Ting also offers all its internet customers unlimited mobile service on the most reliable nationwide network in America for just $10/month. Elliot Noss, Ting’s CEO, has been a leader in the industry and an advocate for the open internet for many decades. Ting’s management team, including chief networks officer Jason Smith, formerly of Google Fiber, and chief customer officer, Ross Rader, are committed to changing what customers expect from their internet service and their internet service provider. Tucows reported in the first quarter of 2023 that Ting had more than 36,700 active subscribers and $11.9 million in quarterly revenue.
www.tvcinc.com 888-644-6075
Services/Products: Broadband electronics, connectivity products, outside-plant hardware, test equipment, fabric innerduct, conduit technology
For seamless fiber deployments utilizing best-in-class technology, TVC works with its customers to deliver optimal results with a full suite of value-added specialty services for fiber builds. The company’s services are scalable – from simple to complex turnkey solutions. By simplifying the workflow and eliminating or minimizing administration efforts, it can help broadband customers streamline their fiber builds. From facilities to personnel, equipment, technology and systems, TVC is one source to speed deployment, reduce inventory costs, eliminate waste and increase productivity and revenue. TVC streamlines complex supply chain challenges with best-in-class customizable distribution and logistical services, including consultation, asset management, eProcurement, VMI, warehousing, project management and kitting. With more than 100 successful fiber builds and deployment of more than 160,000 miles of fiber cable, TVC is a partner for any broadband network project.
Last year, TVC’s parent WESCO announced that it is collaborating with Corning Inc. and Nokia to help accelerate and simplify last-mile broadband deployment in rural and regional networks. The company will be the first distributor to launch a new fiber-to-the-home kit featuring Corning’s award-winning FlexNAP components. In addition, the company is expanding its portfolio of services, including forming an innovation partner ecosystem; expanding internet of things (IoT) advisory services; and opening a new solutions innovation center in Glenview, Illinois.
www.united.net 800-779-2227
Services/Products: Business and Residential Internet, Phone, and Digital TV
United Communications serves the Middle Tennessee region by providing high-speed internet, digital TV, and phone services to residential and business customers. For more than 75 years, United has developed a reputation for offering world-class connections with a commitment to our local communities. United has received national recognition for its Project UNITE initiative, which focuses on providing broadband internet access to underserved communities. In addition, United has achieved and maintained one of the industry’s highest customer satisfaction ratings.
Last year, United was awarded $53.4 million in grants to expand broadband access in Middle Tennessee. The grant award and supplemental funding will bring high-speed internet to approximately 14,000 new locations, including homes and businesses.
Operating more than 1,700 route miles of fiber, United is recognized as a Smart Rural Community Provider, a top “Fastest Internet Service Provider” by BroadbandNow, a recipient of the 2023 BBB Torch Award for Ethics, and the winner of the 2021 Broadband Communities Cornerstone Award, which honors the most notable deployments of Fiber-to-the-Home in the U.S. and abroad.
www.utopiafiber.com 801-613-3880
Services/Products: Open-access network services
Owned by 11 Utah cities, UTOPIA Fiber continues its growth inside and outside of Utah. UTOPIA Fiber recently announced it completed its FTTP build in West Valley City, Utah, making West Valley the second-largest all-fiber city in the U.S. and the nation’s largest open-access city. UTOPIA also added Cedar Hills City and expanded into Santa Clara in the southern part of the state, which became UTOPIA’s 19th member city. In addition, the company inked the deal to provide residential services to its 20th Utah city while also completing fiber buildouts in 14 cities, including UTOPIA’s 11 original towns. UTOPIA Fiber grew its reach outside of Utah, inking a partnership with Yellowstone Fiber in Gallatin County, Montana, where work is underway to build a $65 million network in the City of Bozeman and its environs. In the fall of 2021, Golden State Connect Authority announced it had inked a memorandum of understanding with UTOPIA Fiber to be an operational partner in a 39-county open-access project in California, the largest municipal project in the nation.
Since the 2021 Top 100 list, the team at UTOPIA Fiber has entirely built out three cities (Murray, West Valley City and Midvale, Utah). UTOPIA Fiber also broke ground on an all-fiber network in Syracuse City and Pleasant Grove, Utah. It continues its operational partnership with Idaho Falls Fiber, now Idaho’s largest open-access network. Despite supply chain constraints and labor market shortages, UTOPIA Fiber built more than 2,969,784 feet of fiber optic infrastructure in 2022 throughout Utah, Idaho and Montana. On the service provider side, ConnectFast became the 16th residential provider on the UTOPIA network. Since the agency’s 2009 turnaround, it has successfully designed, built and operated nearly $400 million worth of fiber projects throughout Utah (bonded through its sister agency Utah Infrastructure Agency), all of which have been funded entirely through subscriber revenue. UTOPIA recently released a survey of approximately 2,500 broadband subscribers, revealing that consumers equate connectivity with a better quality of life.
www.vantagepnt.com 605-995-1777
Services/Products: Broadband engineering and consulting services, including feasibility studies, network design and engineering, grant applications, equipment installation and testing, cybersecurity, environmental services and compliance
Employee-owned Vantage Point Solutions (VPS) provides engineering, consulting, network, and environmental services to wireless and wireline broadband providers. Vantage Point’s professional engineering capabilities, financial and technical expertise, and regulatory knowledge enable it to design advanced, economically viable solutions customized for each client. With nearly 500 employees and hundreds of clients across the country and internationally, VPS helps clients during almost every step of broadband network development and operation, from concept to cutover. Services include feasibility studies, network design, engineering, and deployment; regulatory guidance; financial and business analysis; environmental, cultural and right-of-way assistance; and network maintenance and security. VPS is often called upon to help clients develop grant applications and has helped secure more than $3 billion in broadband grant, auction and loan funds. Headquartered in Mitchell, South Dakota, Vantage Point has six additional brick-and-mortar offices across the country and remote staff working in dozens of states. It is known for its dedication to industry education and advocacy and strong commitment to ethical, professional business practices.
www.veloxuc.com 256-217-4339
Services/Products: Construction services, engineering and design, splicing and project management
Based in Huntsville, Alabama, Velox has provided specialty contracting services to telecommunications providers since 2019. The Velox team serves customers at any project stage, providing fiber installation, project management, network design, outside plant services and more. As the need for fiber infrastructure rapidly grows throughout the Southeast, Velox is expanding its team and resources to meet customers’ needs. Velox leadership has more than 100 years of combined experience, and the expert crews in the field provide quality fiber networks that withstand the test of time. By prioritizing the core values of safety, integrity and expertise, Velox brings reliable internet to communities and peace of mind to each customer.
www.verizon.com; www.verizon.com/communities
Services/Products: Internet, video and digital voice services
Verizon, based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, provides converged communications, information and entertainment services in 150 countries. Verizon Consumer’s wireline services are provided in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S. and Washington, D.C., over a fiber optic network through the Verizon Fios product portfolio and, where Fios is unavailable, over a traditional copper-based network. Verizon Enhanced Communities works with property owners, property managers and businesses to serve multifamily residential, multitenant commercial and mixed-use communities with high-bandwidth internet, TV and phone services. Verizon also made efforts to alleviate the economic hardship some of its customers experienced as a result of the coronavirus: New Fios customers who qualify for the low-income Lifeline discount program receive a $20 per month discount on their home internet service for as long as they remain eligible for the program, bringing the cost to as low as $19.99 per month for symmetrical 200 Mbps internet with no data caps.
Last year, Verizon announced that, for the first time, it is offering free internet through its Fios Forward program to customers who qualify for the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). With Fios Forward and ACP, qualifying customers will have access to premium, high-speed internet (with speeds starting at 200 Mbps for downloads and uploads) without data caps, extra fees or router costs, helping them maintain connectivity for virtual learning, remote work, telehealth visits and more. This year, the telco plans to expand its fiber-based broadband service to 500,000 locations. In Massachusetts, Verizon is bringing high-speed fiber internet to customers across the state, including Worcester, Brockton, Lowell, Everett, Milton, Newburyport and Plainville. In addition, Verizon’s fiber network is expected to be available to more than 70,000 additional homes and businesses in the state.
Verizon participates in the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. The telco made all current Fios Mix & Match plans eligible for participants in the EBB program. Verizon also offers customers on legacy Fios plans (no longer on the market today) the ability to enroll in EBB. A Dow 30 company with $136.8 billion in 2022 revenues, Verizon employed approximately 117,100 people at the end of 2022.
www.vermeer.com 641-628-3141; 888-837-6337
Services/Products: Horizontal directional drilling equipment, utility and pedestrian trenchers and plows
Headquartered in Pella, Iowa, privately owned Vermeer manufactures underground installation equipment, including horizontal directional drills, trenchers, rock wheels, plows and vacuum excavators, many in a range of sizes – from enormous to lawnmower-size trenchers that one worker can handle. The company started in fiber optic installation in 1991 when it launched the Navigator horizontal directional drill (HDD) product line. Vermeer HDD products can install communications lines underground without excavating or trenching, minimizing environmental disruption and helping reduce fiber deployment labor costs. The company offers a microtrenching system that allows the installation of fiber lines in a roadway in one quick pass.
Recent introductions include the SPX25 remote-controlled vibratory plow, used for installing small pipes and cables at depths up to 12 inches and for boring underneath driveways and sidewalks using an optional attachment. In 2021, Vermeer expanded its horizontal directional drilling tooling options with the Ultra X3 Drilling System for utility-sized rigs; it has a unique, non-torqued spline connection system and accepts a wide range of pilot bit and pullback configurations. Besides enhancing its product line, the company has been expanding its manufacturing capabilities. Leveraging the manufacturing capabilities of the Vermeer mile, where most Vermeer products are assembled, the company recently opened a 312,000- Global Parts Distribution Center to support its customers and dealers. Also, in late 2022, Vermeer Northwest merged with and took the name Vermeer Mountain West. Combining these two adjacent Vermeer dealership groups creates a contiguous network of 13 locations spanning a large area of the western United States.
www.vetrofibermap.com 207-221-6627
Services/Products: Fiber mapping software and service
VETRO is a network asset management software company delivering internet infrastructure intelligence through a unique mapping platform. VETRO software makes it simpler and faster for broadband providers to plan, design, build and operate their fiber optic networks. The company’s map-based SaaS platform is easier and more potent than traditional tools. It enables network owners, operators and sponsors to benefit from a modern, integrated, connected digital hub for their physical network assets. VETRO enables better connectivity and delivers disruptive digital transformation for all communications service providers. Last year, VETRO partnered with ConnectMaine, Tilson and CostQuest Associates (CQA) to secure a $28 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to fund fiber builds in rural communities in Maine. VETRO has joined CQA to support the California Public Utilities Commission’s $6 billion multi-year investment to expand broadband infrastructure. VETRO’s Broadband Intelligence Platform will be the platform of record for broadband analytics and program management. This year, VETRO is integrating with COS Systems to provide network operators and internet service providers with an automated end-to-end solution to streamline fiber network management. The company also partnered with Camvio to combine network management with customer management and help ISPs streamline operations. VETRO is a privately owned company headquartered in Portland, Maine.
www.viavisolutions.com 408-404-3600
Services/Products: Field and lab broadband test equipment, network monitoring systems, network performance monitoring, diagnostic solutions
VIAVI Solutions has served the communications industry for nearly 100 years. The company provides testing, assurance, monitoring and optimization solutions for broadband communications service providers, cable operators, mobile service providers, network equipment manufacturers, hyper-scale ecosystems, contractors, governments, data centers and enterprises. It offers test and measurement solutions for all gigabit internet technologies, including GPON, DOCSIS, G.fast, Wi-Fi and 5G. VIAVI claims numerous firsts, such as the telecom industry’s first 400 Gbps test platform, the industry’s first PON power meter solution for NG-PON2 deployments, the first complete open-radio access network (O-RAN) test suite for 5G and the first fully integrated test product for pluggable 800G transceivers that use 100G electrical lane speed, introduced in May 2021. Viavi recently announced that it is bringing advanced performance testing to Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) networks. TeraVM SASE Test is a virtualized platform that tests the limits of any SASE solution by emulating large-scale traffic and measuring the performance across multiple vectors.
Among the recent announcements are a high-speed Ethernet testing platform for testing up to 128 x 800G, and the launch of FiberComplete PRO, the first single-test-port solution that fully automates all fiber qualification tests required for the construction and certification of any type of fiber optic network. In 2022, Openreach deployed an automated testing solution from VIAVI across its full fiber broadband network in the UK to show near real-time views of the speeds that end-users can achieve and to isolate and troubleshoot faults on the network. Also in 2022, Open Fiber in Italy selected VIAVI ONMSi optical network management system to manage network compliance and troubleshooting across the life cycle of its fiber deployments. The company also announced the opening of its new optical production facility in Chandler, Arizona. For the fiscal year 2022, VIAVI reported net revenue of $1.3 billion. VIAVI is based in Chandler, Arizona.
www.ycominc.com 321-723-6025
Services/Products: Underground and aerial construction, directional boring, fiber installation, and emergency maintenance and response
Y-COM has had a long history of serving the broadband and utility industry. Founded in 1972 as a contractor for wiring CATV / TV coaxial cable lines as Young’s TV Cable, Y-COM is a super-regional provider of infrastructure services to the telecommunications, utility, and power sectors. The company offers its customers full capabilities, including underground, aerial and emergency services. In 2022, Melbourne, Florida–based Y-COM was purchased by Grain Management, a private investment firm focusing on broadband infrastructure and technology companies. Y-COM provides infrastructure services to the telecommunications and utility industries in the Southeast. As a family-owned and operated business providing mission-critical solutions to telecommunications and utility providers, Y-COM specializes in underground and aerial construction, directional boring, fiber installation and emergency maintenance and response. It has three main divisions: utilities, telecom and power.
Y-COM has continued to grow its business. In 2022, the company made three acquisitions – Atlantic Engineering Group (AEG), Borecomm and Fiber Optic Services (FOS). By acquiring AEG, Y-COM gains a company with deep FTTH buildout experience. AEG has serviced communities in 32 states across the U.S. and 11 countries globally, designing, constructing and managing fiber optic network solutions and aiding clients in engineering and deploying FTTH networks. Likewise, Y-COM’s acquisition of Fiber Optic Services enhances its technical services suite for fiber providers. FOS has performed more than 4.2 million fusion splices on more than 18.5 million fiber miles of cable. The business provides services for telecommunications, CATV, power utility, fiber-to-the-premises and other applications. Finally, Borecomm gave Y-COM more underground telecom construction expertise. As the third acquisition for Y-COM since Grain acquired the business in 2022, Melbourne, Florida–based Borecomm focuses on FTTH construction, using specialized assets, equipment and a skilled team to meet growing network service needs in the region’s residential market.
www.zyxel.com 714-632-0882; 800-255-4101
Services/Products: Multi-gigabit home gateways and other customer premises equipment, mesh Wi-Fi systems, Ethernet switches and GPON/XGSPON ONT for service providers
Zyxel Communications delivers technological innovations and has connected the world to the internet for more than 30 years. The company’s multi-gigabit, Wi-Fi 6, LTE and fiber home connectivity solutions provide fast, reliable and cost-effective whole-home access for service providers to meet their subscribers’ growing and advanced network-enabled demand. Recent Zyxel Communications solutions include a multi-Gig concept that includes a Wi-Fi 6E 10G Ethernet gateway and extender and a Wi-Fi 6 for 2.5G and gigabit Ethernet gateway to optimize the performance of advanced applications such as 4K/8K UHD streaming, VR/AR, online gaming, internet-connected fitness equipment and bandwidth-intensive IoT devices. The company also introduced a 2.5G WAN & LAN Wi-Fi 6 Ethernet gateway for service providers – the first in a family of multi-gigabit gateways that deliver high-bandwidth, low-latency, fast wireless speeds to optimize the wireless experience in ultra-connected homes.
Zyxel’s expanded portfolio of Wi-Fi 6 gateways for service providers delivers high-speed internet access and quality of service (QoS) support that enables service providers to meet the growing demand from their subscribers for triple-play services. In addition, its XGS-PON ONT solutions enable service providers to expand their current service capacity beyond existing gigabit limitations to deliver the increased bandwidth, greater speeds and higher reliability required to support advanced network applications in the home. The company’s support for TR-369 and OpenSync provides a secure solution that gives service providers more frequent and precise monitoring of their customers’ networks, enabling them to enhance their quality of service and increase customer satisfaction. Zyxel Communications was recently awarded a Gold Honor in the 2022 Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards based on the company’s ethical and profitable business practices. Headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, with U.S. headquarters in Anaheim, California, Zyxel has a team of knowledgeable engineers and executives who offer local services and support for the U.S.
To nominate a company for next year’s FTTH Top 100, email top100@bbcmag.com.
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