Editor's Note: Going All in on Fiber

The notion of placing bets may be a well-worn cliché, but it’s a fitting way to describe how honorees of Broadband Communities’ Fiber-to-the-Home Top 100 list see potential wins from fiber-based broadband. So many players are in the game that narrowing the list to 100 was difficult, but we believe those we’ve highlighted are exceptional in their achievements and ambition.

Consider AT&T’s plans to extend fiber to 3 million customer locations across more than 90 metro areas. Quantum Fiber serves 2.4 million locations and will extend FTTH across all its U.S. markets this year. New Street Research reports that service providers could pass an additional 20 million homes to reach 60 million over the next decade.

These builds will be a boon to the constellation of vendors required to support FTTH deployment by providing equipment, software, consulting services, design and construction. They, too, are recognized on our Top 100 list.

Co-Ops offer Rural Hope

Electric co-ops are becoming broadband catalysts for rural communities. Founded in the 1930s to provide rural electricity, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association revealed that more than 200 co-ops are developing or planning to deploy broadband service.

In some states, laws no longer prohibit electric co-ops from offering services other than electricity, helping accelerate broadband deployments. Perhaps even more important, members of Conexon’s Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium were awarded more than $1.1 billion through the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity
Fund auction to launch FTTH networks in more than 600,000 rural areas across 22 states. This is all good news for rural communities hungry for high-speed internet.

Communities Get Active

In some places, communities are finding alternative methods to get broadband, partnering with other honorees on our list. For instance, Consolidated Communications established public-private partnerships with more than a dozen New Hampshire communities to install FTTH networks.

Competitive providers such as ALLO, C Spire and Ting continue to work with communities to build out FTTH networks across cities in the Midwest, Northeast and South.

As providers see that FTTH is a sustainable technology that can address long-term broadband needs, it’s no wonder Broadband Communities’ FTTH Top 100 are going all in with FTTH. We’re excited to see their bets pay off and win big!