Broadband Communities’ list of fiber-to-the-home leaders and innovators for 2022.
“Building a Fiber-Connected World” is the tagline of Broadband Communities magazine. Each year, the Fiber-To-The-Home Top 100 list recognizes organizations that lead the way in this endeavor.
Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment in the U.S. continues to outpace legacy copper broadband, a trend impacting service providers and vendor suppliers.
RVA said in its “2022–2026 North American Fiber Broadband Report: FTTH and 5G Review and Forecast” that the five-year U.S. capital investment in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) will exceed all investment in FTTH to date and will surpass $125 billion in the period – barring significant unforeseen economic or geopolitical disruption. Likewise, the number of new route miles of fiber installed for any purpose (fiber-to-the-premises, deep fiber for cable MSOs, middle- and long-haul fiber, wireless backhaul, private networks, etc.) is also expected to rival all-fiber route miles installed to date. The research firm expects robust fiber deployment to continue well into the 2030s.
FTTH equipment spending continues to be robust. Dell’Oro Group noted that total global revenue for the broadband access equipment market increased to $4.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022, up 14 percent year over year. Jeff Heynen, vice president of broadband access and home networking for Dell’Oro, said despite “challenges with supply chains, logistics, and labor, service providers continue to invest heavily to expand their fiber broadband networks, particularly in North America.”
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 is also expanding its speed profiles, announcing in January that 5 million customers across more than 70 cities – including Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas – can upgrade their plans to support uploads and downloads of up to 2 Gbps for $110 per month, or up to 5 Gbps for $180 per month. Quantum Fiber exited the first quarter with its fiber passing 2.92 million premises, serving 830,000 fiber subscribers.
Smaller telcos, such as Consolidated Communications, Lumos Networks/NorthState and Smithville, continue to make FTTH moves. Consolidated Communications, which offers FTTH services under the Fidium brand, built fiber in 83,700 additional locations, bringing total fiber passings to 690,000 in the first quarter. Fidium will launch FTTH service in Texas, California, Minnesota, Illinois and Pennsylvania communities.
Lumos Networks/NorthState began expanding its fiber network to another 80,000 homes and businesses and launching a multi-gig fiber internet tier, with speeds up to 2 Gbps for consumers and small businesses. Having celebrated 100 years in business, Smithville is expanding its fiber footprint into areas such as Jasper and Ellettsville, Indiana.
Besides the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), cable operators and competitors also are making progress. Cable MSO Altice USA expects to reach 6.5 million fiber passings by 2025 (including 1.3 million total incremental FTTH passings in FY 2022) across its Optimum and Suddenlink footprint. Meanwhile, Charter Communications, one of the big winners in the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction, will bring FTTH to rural communities.
Companies newly added or reinstated to the list represent a variety of ecosystem niches. Two new entrants, Horizon Telecom and United Fiber, began their lives as independent telcos offering voice services in rural areas of Ohio and Tennessee. Chillicothe, Ohio–based Horizon, purchased by Canadian private equity firm Novacap in 2018, extends its network into underserved and unserved Ohio communities. United Fiber, which became a subsidiary of Middle Tennessee Electric, is bringing service to underserved areas in Middle Tennessee via its Project UNITE initiative.
Because the Top 100 list represents an ecosystem of players, this year’s list also includes a host of entities representing marketing/communications, network planning/construction and distribution. Harrison Edwards is spearheading engagement strategies for broadband projects for UTOPIA Fiber, Yellowstone Fiber, Traverse City Light & Power and others.
Staying in the community broadband vein, Sertex is leveraging its SertexConnect platform to conduct a customized broadband survey and develop a deployment plan for communities such as Barkhamsted, Connecticut. Finally, Fiber Instrument Sales (FIS) has a long track record as being a distributor of fiber network equipment, test equipment and training.
In addition to the new entrants, several other companies either have changed names or were acquired. Cincinnati Bell rebranded itself as altafiber, reflecting the telco’s efforts to expand its geographic reach and invest in its fiber network within and outside its traditional operating area. Meanwhile, Preformed Line Products and TVC/MaxCell are now respectively PLP and TVC Communications.
Another key trend was mergers and acquisitions across three domains: service providers, network construction, and software and distribution.
OTELCO became part of the combined GoNetspeed brand after Oak Hill Capital purchased it, along with Lantek Fiber Optic Services, to expand the availability of fiber-based data services.
A notable wave of consolidation took place in the network construction business. In 2021, Network Connex purchased Advantage Engineers, which joined forces with CCSI Networks, Fairhaven Integration Services, National Technologies (NTI), Precision Design Services and VERTICOM. Likewise, MasTec rolled Henkels & McCoy into its operations and Grain Management–backed Y-COM purchased Atlantic Engineering Group.
Other notable acquisitions were JSI’s acquisition of Mid-State Consultants and USTC’s purchase of Walker. VertiGIS also acquired Mapcom Systems to bolster its geographic information systems (GIS) and software capabilities.
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, we give preference to 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, a telephone cooperative, an electric cooperative 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 advancing fiber broadband rather than how important broadband is to them.
Network Planning, Systems Integration, Design, Engineering, Construction, Installation Fiber and Fiber Cable Network Testing, Monitoring and Management Services Network Management Solutions Fiber-to-the-Home Electronics Test and Measurement Equipment Passive Components for FTTH Networks Optical LAN Solutions FTTH Construction Equipment Distributors of Fiber Optic Products 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 sean@bbcmag.com.
www.3-gis.com 256-560-0744
Key Products: Web-based tools and services for telecom asset mapping and fiber network design and management
Summary: 3-GIS, an SSP Innovations company, provides software and services to manage physical and modeling networks. The company’s software and services provide anywhere, anytime access, geospatial data and mapping, visibility of network connections and logic, 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. For the last three years, 3-GIS has assisted successful bidders in the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program with their FTTx deployments. Built upon Esri’s ArcGIS Enterprise, 3-GIS’s complete suite of applications include 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, extensions to Web, automate network planning and design; and 3-GIS | Admin, a browser-based configuration console, which enables the creation of rules and guidelines that define 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. The company is headquartered in the greater Huntsville, Alabama, area, with staff positioned around the world to support its global customer base.
www.adtran.com 256-963-8000
Key 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
Summary: ADTRAN, based in the U.S., is a global supplier of end-to-end fiber broadband solutions for the residential, enterprise and mobile services markets served by cable MSOs, telecom service providers, municipalities, utilities and electric co-ops. The ADTRAN Total Access 5000 is the most widely deployed fiber access platform, supporting thousands of gigabit communities served by more than 500 providers in North America. Complementing this platform is a connected home solution providing a managed mesh Wi-Fi 6 solution that extends the gigabit service experience to every room in the home. Rounding out the end-to-end solution, pulling data from a suite of intelligent SaaS applications, is Mosaic One, which provides marketing, operations and customer care teams a unified view of actionable intelligence that has been proven to lower cost, increase service velocity and improve customer loyalty. This AI-driven fiber broadband solution is complemented by a full suite of network modernization and system integration services and a pool of broadband partners with broadband funding and turnkey project expertise.
Regional network operators and community broadband providers have increasingly selected the ADTRAN end-to-end fiber broadband solution in their objective to unlock their communities’ potential. In 2022, StratusIQ, an internet service provider in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Twin Lakes, a telephone cooperative, selected the ADTRAN 10G fiber access platform with Combo PON technology to offer more competitive broadband services, increase revenue, and future-proof their networks. In April 2022, ADTRAN announced the launch of its Broadband Partner Program, a channel reseller program combining its fiber expertise with its channel partner support. The program will help ADTRAN partners leverage new federal funding for broadband infrastructure, grow their addressable market and capture new revenue. Based in Huntsville, Alabama, ADTRAN has 1,300 employees and reported revenue of $563 million in 2021.
www.aflglobal.com 864-433-0333; 800-235-3423
Key Products: Fiber optic cable and connectivity, outside-plant fiber and electrical conductor hardware, fusion splicers, test and inspection equipment, training, design, engineering, integration
Summary: 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 and 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. Last year, the company announced the expansion of its premise MicroCore cable family to include low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) indoor/outdoor MicroCore and LSZH indoor/outdoor MicroCore with SWR technology. It also introduced its FlowScout PON optical power meter for network activation, testing and troubleshooting passive optical networks. This year, the company expanded its FTTx portfolio with the launch of the Switchblade collapsible fiber containment vault (FCV), a modular underground handhole that stores high-density fiber and splices. 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. Last year, AFL was awarded five new patents for the technology, connectivity, and fiber optic cable developments. Founded in 1984, AFL is headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and is a division of Fujikura Ltd. The company has more than 6,000 associates worldwide and operates in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia.
www.alianza.com 801-802-6400
Key Product: Cloud-based VoIP platform
Summary: Early fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployers were mainly telephone companies, but many new FTTH entrants have no history of providing voice services. For a broadband operator without telephone equipment or expertise, using a cloud-based system is the simplest, most economical way to add a voice offering – typically a high-margin service. Alianza’s Cloud Communications Platform, a web-scale VoIP software-as-a-service solution built for broadband providers, delivers and supports 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.
In 2019, Alianza announced several new customer acquisitions, including Cumberland Connect in Tennessee and ecoLink in Oklahoma. Pennsylvania ISP PenTeleData also launched a cloud-based voice service for business customers powered by Alianza’s Cloud Communications Platform. In 2020, Alianza integrated with NISC’s IVUE Connect platform. It provides a complete suite of broadband billing, customer management and provisioning solutions for electric cooperatives and supports the needs of contemporary utilities. Alianza’s Cloud Communications Platform provides a turnkey VoIP solution that enables broadband providers to deliver a feature-rich, easy-to-manage residential and business communication services portfolio.
Last year, Alianza introduced Managed Specialty Lines, a new, fully managed, end-to-end, cloud-based plain old telephone service (POTS) replacement solution for service providers. In 2022, Lumen Technologies announced it would use Alianza’s Cloud Communications Platform to strengthen its voice services portfolio and provide customers with business communication functionality. The company also expanded its Technology Ecosystem Partner Program, which helps service providers streamline their back-office operations, accelerate time to revenue and reduce the cost of delivering cloud communications. Founded in 2009 and with headquarters in Pleasant Grove, Utah, Alianza has more than 250 employees.
“Prysmian Group is dedicated to supporting the growth necessary to expand access to global, high-speed broadband. We are committed to constantly investing in our optical fiber, cable and connectivity capabilities to support our customers with innovative products and together, building new, reliable and cost-effective broadband network infrastructures. Through these investments, we are proud to play a leading role as an enabler for the digital transformation across the globe.” – Patrick Jacobi, Senior Vice President Telecom North America, Prysmian Group
www.allocommunications.com 866-481-2556; 855-632-3154
Key Products: Internet access, Metro Ethernet, phone, TV and video services
Summary: Founded in Imperial, Nebraska, in 2003, ALLO Communications and its 1,000 team members serve communities across Nebraska, Colorado and Arizona with competitive fiber broadband services. ALLO believes that fiber is a transformational technology and has committed to constructing ubiquitous fiber builds to reach every home citywide. Helping communities use their networks to expand business opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life is key to ALLO’s fiber mission. ALLO currently provides communication services to 29 cities across Nebraska, Colorado and Arizona, totaling approximately one million in population. In 2021, ALLO was recognized as the third-fastest ISP in the North Central U.S. and the fastest provider in Nebraska for median download speed. ALLO’s hiring efforts for veterans led the company to receive the 2021 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 77 nonprofit organizations in Lincoln with 10 years of free internet service. In Fort Morgan, Colorado, ALLO leased the city-owned fiber network to deliver broadband services. In 2021, ALLO announced a fiber-to-the-premises project offering 10 Gigabit bandwidth in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. ALLO is also working to establish a fiber-optic system in Ashland, Milford, Seward, Sidney and York, Nebraska, and Kingman and Butler, Arizona. In 2021, ALLO had reported revenue of $100 million.
www.alpha.com 800-322-5742; 360-647-2360
Key Products: Power supplies, surge suppressors, enclosures and batteries, installation and construction services
Summary: Founded in 1976, Alpha Technologies is a worldwide broadband power systems player. Alpha products provide power conditioning and emergency backup for video, data and voice networks. Alpha’s installation and construction services include structural engineering, rights of way and easement procurement, site preparation, equipment installation and system turnup and testing. Customers in 50 countries include major cable television system operators, telecommunications service providers and full-service communications providers. Alpha Technologies’ FTTH powering options have the FlexPoint line of 12V DC single-family solutions and the FlexNet line of 48V DC multiple-dwelling-unit and small office/home office power supplies. Alpha has more than 1,000 employees and has sales and service centers in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, China and Australia. It is a member of the Alpha Group, which EnerSys acquired in 2019. In 2020, Corning and EnerSys announced a strategic collaboration to speed 5G deployment by simplifying the delivery of fiber and electrical power to small-cell wireless sites. EnerSys’ annual revenue for 2021 was $3 billion.
www.altafiber.com 513-566-4101; 888-246-2355
Key Products: Telephone, data, video, wireless and information technology solutions
Summary: In March 2022, Cincinnati Bell announced that 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 included a focus on fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) addresses, as FTTP has become a more relevant solution for its customers. As of December 31, 2020, Fioptics products are available to approximately 637,000 customers, or 75 percent of the Greater Cincinnati operating territory. In 2020, the company passed an additional 7,900 addresses 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, Southeast Asia, and U.S. cable. altafiber continues to evolve and optimize network assets to support the migration of legacy products to new technology. In 2021, the company announced partnerships in Northern Kentucky to invest $181 million and deliver fiber-based gigabit internet to all 207,000 Campbell, Kenton and Boone County addresses in 24 to 36 months. This year, altafiber closed its acquisition of Agile Network Builders, the Canton, Ohio–based company that leases wireless infrastructure assets to third parties and provides connectivity through hybrid fiber wireless data networks in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. altafiber’s revenue in 2021 was $1.6 billion.
www.alticeusa.com 516-803-2300
Key Products: Internet, video and voice services
Summary: Altice USA is one of the largest broadband and video providers in the U.S., delivering broadband, pay TV, voice, Wi-Fi hot spot access, proprietary content and advertising services through its Optimum and Suddenlink brands. Symmetrical 5 and 2 Gbps internet service over Altice USA’s new FTTH network is being rolled out to residential customers in select Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut areas. Altice USA is expanding gigabit broadband services via an accelerated fiber build and its whole-home, mesh-smart Wi-Fi service to 500,000 locations. This positions it to offer 10 Gbps speeds for residential and business customers in 2022. Altice USA is enhancing its hybrid fiber coax network in the Optimum service area and plans to launch a 1 Gbps broadband service via DOCSIS 3.1. With less than 10 percent of the customer base taking gigabit speeds, the company has plenty of room to grow 1 Gbps and faster broadband speeds as demand dictates.
The cable MSO is also adding gigabit capacity in the Suddenlink service area and expanding the Altice footprint through new-home builds. In 2021, it gave Optimum and Suddenlink customers access to intelligent Wi-Fi and brought Altice One entertainment to Apple TV. The company has also announced plans for building a fiber network for Suddenlink expansion into six Texas markets. Last year, Altice announced an agreement to acquire the assets of Morris Broadband LLC, which will expand its footprint in North Carolina. In March 2022, Altice and T-Mobile raised a multiyear mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement through which T-Mobile will continue to serve as the nationwide network for Altice USA’s Optimum Mobile service. Headquartered in Long Island City, New York, Altice USA serves 5 million customers across 21 states and posted $10.1 billion in 2021 revenue.
www.amphenol.com 203-265-8900
Key Products: Fiber distribution solutions, fiber optic enclosures
Summary: 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. It also enhanced its Amphe-PD series with a low profile, two-way power connector that can carry a high current. Founded in 1932, Amphenol trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker APH and had sales of $10.9 billion in 2021. The company is headquartered in Wallingford, Connecticut, and has more than 80,000 employees worldwide.
www.att.com/att/multifamily-property
Key Products: High-speed internet, next-generation TV, voice, advanced mobile services
Summary: AT&T is the largest FTTH provider in the U.S. Today, AT&T can serve FTTH to 17 million locations. As of April 2022, AT&T Fiber’s total subscriber base is about 6.3 million. After the telco announced plans to spin off its WarnerMedia unit and combine it with Discovery in a $43 billion deal, 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 is enhancing its suite of fiber speed tiers in the near term, announcing a 2 and 5 Gbps plan in January. These speeds will be available to 5.2 million homes and businesses in more than 70 metro areas.
AT&T plans to reach more than 30 million locations across 100-plus metros with its fiber footprint by the end of 2025. This 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. 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 2021 was $168.9 billion, with 170,000 employees.
“Where it’s easy to build telecom infrastructure, fiber networks have already been built. Reaching the last mile is a different story. Remote deployments with rugged terrain and harsh conditions invariably face myriad unseen challenges, from make-ready and permitting to weather, supply chain and logistics issues. Strong partnerships between communities and infrastructure deployment experts can overcome any obstacles in the path to building and operating essential networks.” – Michael A. Solitro, Founder and CEO, Sertex Broadband Solutions
www.ibhc.com 913-663-1900
Key Products: Planning, design, and construction of FTTx projects
Summary: 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; GIS and AutoCAD mapping; hut site development and construction (one recent project was for huts in Google Fiber’s new Louisville network); outside-plant design; site and route surveys including 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. BHC decided on unit prices for the construction of the final courses and a comparison of the two route options. BHC also handles pole surveys, right-of-way permitting and asset management. BHC performed design and related services for an FTTH network in Meridian, Idaho, resulting in 80,000 households passed. Based in Overland Park, Kansas (with additional offices in Kansas City and now Wichita), BHC was founded in 1992 and has more than 135 employees.
www.biarrinetworks.com 303-524-1710
Key Products: Software and services for FTTx design automation, network planning, outside-plant engineering, mapping
Summary: Biarri Networks helps ISPs, utility service providers, telcos, engineering firms, and consultants to 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-based optimization and collaboration platform for digital engineering, planning and design. The company continues to roll out new updates for FOND. For example, to help customers navigate the utility pole attachment process for FTTH networks, Biarri introduced pole and aerial span editing tools in FOND. Biarri’s team of experts also delivers designs and engineering outputs at speed and scale using the company’s patented algorithmic approach, combining technology, analytics, geospatial data and industry best practices. In addition to FOND, Biarri offers custom-built design engines for enterprise clients, design services and consultancy services. In 2020, Biarri completed high-level designs for more than 10 new projects, passing 761,407 homes. More than two-thirds of those passings became construction-ready “low-level” setups. By May 2021, Biarri had already delivered almost 2 million homes at feasibility-level design and had commenced 10 more projects that will be constructed in the future. Biarri grew its team by a third in the past year, increasing its workforce to more than 150 globally. Rural broadband projects in Mexico, Canada and the U.S. helped fuel the growth. Now based in Denver, Colorado, Biarri has offices in Melbourne, Australia.
www.bv.com 913-458-2000
Key Products: Consulting, engineering, construction, operations, program management
Summary: Black & Veatch, founded in 1915 and based in Overland Park, Kansas, is a global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in telecommunications, energy, water and government services. The employee-owned company has approximately 9,200 professionals in more than 100 offices worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries. Services include engineering, procurement, construction, design, management consulting, asset management, environmental consulting and security. Black & Veatch has deployed more than 45,000 miles of fiber for commercial carriers, cities and utilities. In 2020, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission chose Black & Veatch to install a new fiber optic network along more than 200 miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In 2021, Black & Veatch’s telecommunications business was ranked No. 6 by Engineering News-Record. Revenue in 2021 exceeded $3.3 billion.
Key Products: Gigabit-speed internet access, live streaming video, digital home phone and smart-home services delivered over a fiber-based network
Summary: 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 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 formed 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. C Spire also announced the completion of its acquisition of Troy Cablevision Inc., including Union Springs Telephone Company. C Spire is headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
“Fiber is underpinning everything in developed markets, such as the U.S., and the demand is only increasing. The fiber market and broadband connectivity in general are likely to remain strong, despite any challenges that the economy may deliver. Nonetheless, it would be wise for the market to seize the opportunity to strengthen two critical elements of a service provider’s network and business. The first element is increasing automation in key areas such as network testing, so that service providers can safely scale deployments without sacrificing quality. The second area to bolster, which applies to everyone in the ecosystem, is for service providers to firm up and optimize their own supply chains.” – Koji Okamoto, Vice President and General Manager, Fiber Test, VIAVI Solutions
www.calix.com 408-514-3000; 877-766-3500
Key Products: Fiber access solutions for residential and business services, managed home Wi-Fi with value-added subscriber experience applications, network and services management software
Summary: With more than 1,700 customers worldwide (130 added last year alone), Calix serves a wide range of North American FTTx providers and a growing share of international markets with fiber access and home Wi-Fi solutions. Since 2017, it has leveraged its transformation from providing wireline access systems to offering software platforms, cloud analytics and value-added subscriber experience solutions that enable broadband service providers to compete with consumer brand giants. 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. In 2021, increased revenue from regional carriers more than made up for declining revenue from national carriers as its work for them has moved toward completion and into upkeep. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Calix had $679 million in revenues in 2021 despite the global pandemic and supply chain headwinds. It credits its “physical” product line simplification as it consolidates and standardizes equipment offerings and becomes more software-based. Calix employed 954 people at the end of 2021.
www.ccgcomm.com 202-255-7689
Key Products: Regulatory, engineering, marketing, strategy and planning services; raising money for broadband projects
Summary: 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, 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.
www.SpectrumCommunitySolutions.com Key Products: Advanced broadband solutions, which includes advanced community Wi-Fi, coax and fiber solutions, streaming video, and traditional video solutions
Summary: 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 invests more than $5 billion through its rural broadband deployment initiative to bring 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, RV parks and marinas. Spectrum Community Solutions offers propertywide Wi-Fi coverage with Wi-Fi 6 technology, traditional and streaming video packages, 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
Key Products: Engineering, network planning, managed NOC and managed IT services; communications billing software
Summary: CHR is a broadband systems provider enabling clients to grow their networks and customer bases quickly. It offers a range of engineering, business and technology solutions that support better broadband for telecoms, electric co-ops, utilities and municipalities nationwide. CHR has designed FTTx networks that pass more than 2 million premises. 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. Recent clients include IQ Fiber, Northeast Florida’s only local residential fiber optic internet service provider.
CHR engineering specializes in PON and active Ethernet fiber design but has expertise in other communications technologies, including xDSL and fixed wireless. CHR provides billing, customer management, business and network operations(B/OSS) and outsourced managed IT/NOC services. The evolution of the B/OSS product continues. Its new Omnia360 customer management functionality 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. New customers include Alaska Communications, Beacon Broadband, CobbEMC, Cross Telephone, Gila River Telecommunications, IQ Fiber and Point Broadband. New customers include Alaska Communications, Beacon Broadband, CobbEMC, Cross Telephone, Gila River Telecommunications and Point Broadband. For example, Beacon Broadband, a Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative (CCEC) subsidiary in southern Oregon, is building a new, rural, fiber-to-the-premises network and selected Omnia360 as its business software solution. The company is headquartered in Houston.
www.seeclearfield.com 763-476-6866; 800-422-2537
Key Products: Fiber distribution and protection systems for inside plant, outside plant and access networks
Summary: Headquartered in Minneapolis, Clearfield designs and manufactures fiber management, protection and delivery products that accelerate fiber services activation. The company has four main product lines: FieldSmart fiber distribution systems for the inside plant and FieldSmart fiber scalability centers for the outside plant; a fiber delivery point series for access networks; FieldShield, optical fiber delivery and protection platform made of microduct and preconnectorized pushable fiber; and the YOURx platform, which accepts multiple types of drop cable media. All Clearfield product lines integrate with the Clearview Cassette 12-fiber management system.
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. This year, the company introduced the FastPass fiber distribution system using in-cassette splicing to speed Fiber Distribution Hub (FDH) cabinet installation times. It also introduced the FieldSmart 96-Port PON Cabinet for rural deployments.
In addition to enhancing its product line, Clearfield added a manufacturing plant in Tijuana, Mexico, and completed a new 100,000 square foot facility to support multistate regional telco providers and operators. In 2021, Clearfield partnered with four other manufacturers (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 $141 million in revenue for 2021.
www.comcast.com; www.xfinity.com/xfinitycommunities
Key Products: Internet, video, voice and home security services
Summary: 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 has 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. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Comcast raised the speeds of its Internet Essentials offering for low-income subscribers from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps for all new and existing customers. New families that connect will get 60 days of free internet service. This 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. By the end of 2021, Comcast Cable had 34.2 million customer relationships. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation. Comcast Corporation reported $116.3 billion in revenue for 2021 revenue.
“We stand at the convergence of technology and societal trends and capabilities. The lines of traditional markets will continue to blur as convergence drives disruption across the foundational sectors of business and society. The path forward is about ‘connecting technologies’ versus just providing ‘connectivity.’ We need to step beyond market boundaries, see the broader growth trends, and develop innovative solutions that enable the future before us.” – Seán Adam, Vice President, Market Strategy & Innovation, AFL
www.commscope.com 828-324-2200; 800-982-1708
Key Products: Connectivity and Cable Solutions; Access Network Solutions; Outdoor Wireless Networks; Networking, Intelligent Cellular and Security Solutions; Home Networks
Summary: 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 is the supplier of the most 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 an extensive host of offerings for cellular networks, at the macro, metro and indoor layer 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, datacenter 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. Last year, CommScope announced plans to spin off its Home Networks business into a new, independent public company; however, due to the impact of the uncertain supply chain environment on the Home Networks business, the company has delayed its separation plan. In 2021, CommScope’s revenue was $8.59 billion, up from $8.4 billion in 2020.
www.co-mo.net; www.co-mo.coop 660-433-5521; 800-781-0157
Key Products: Gigabit internet, HDTV, phone service
Summary: A decade ago, Co-Mo Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Tipton, Missouri, served an area 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 under the name 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. 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. This year, Co-Mo Connect celebrated the milestone of 25,000 broadband service subscribers. The company has more than 190 employees.
www.comsof.com 416-594-9777
Key Products: FTTx network planning and design software
Summary: Comsof Fiber is a GIS-based solution that empowers users to automate and optimize the design of their fiber networks. Network operators and engineering firms use Comsof Fiber to save time and money on their FTTx builds. Comsof’s powerful automation saves time in the network planning process, and its optimization means a lower capital spend on builds. With more than 100 million homes planned in more than 50 countries, Comsof Fiber makes fiber network design automated, optimized and efficient.
www.conexon.us 202-798-3884
Key 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
Summary: Conexon is leading 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 100 percent of their membership. The company comprises professionals who have worked in electric cooperatives and telecommunications, 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 networks, manage construction, provide operational support, optimize business performance and determine critical partnerships. Conexon has assisted more than 200 electric cooperatives, 60 deploying fiber networks, with more than 500,000 rural Americans connected to fiber to the home. The company has secured nearly $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 fiber-to-the-home networks. To date, Conexon Connect operates in Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Missouri.
www.consolidated.com 844-968-7224
Key Products: Fiber-to-the-premises broadband, high-speed internet, data, phone, security, managed services, cloud services, wholesale carrier solutions
Summary: 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 50,000 fiber route miles. The company is delivering on an ambitious fiber expansion plan to provide symmetrical, multi-gig speeds to more than 70 percent of its service area by 2025. The Fidium Fiber product is a customer-centered, consumer fiber broadband service offering symmetrical multi-gig rates and exceptional service to residents in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas. An early adopter of public-private partnerships, Consolidated has worked with numerous 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 residents. 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. Consolidated Communications reported $1.28 billion in revenue for fiscal 2021.
www.corning.com 828-901-5000
Key Products: Optical fiber, optical fiber cable, FTTx product suite (cabinets, splitters, terminals, housings, drops), closures, connectors, cable assemblies, wireless access networks, engineering services, training
Summary: 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 visual products and is the world’s most extensive fiber producer. 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, designed to lower installation costs by minimizing 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 for 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.
In 2020, Underwriters Labs (UL) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) launched the world’s first comprehensive SPIRE Smart Building Program in collaboration with Corning. Corning also introduced its Evolv hardened connectivity solutions designed to accelerate deployment of fiber networks and launched its Pushlok connector, reducing terminal size, facilitating lower costs and allowing quick connectivity. In 2021, Corning’s optical communications business reported $4.3 billion in revenue, growing 22 percent from 2020; the growth accelerated in the first quarter of 2022. The company has experienced unprecedented demand in fiber broadband, 5G and cloud computing due partly to long-term trends and products such as compact in-building wireless 5G to satisfy pandemic-induced home broadband use.
www.cossystems.com 800-562-1730
Key Products: Demand aggregation software, BSS/OSS for managing open-access fiber networks
Summary: The COS Systems software suite helps network owners profitably plan, deploy and manage broadband networks to deliver services from one or more providers. COS Service Zones is a demand aggregation tool that enables network builders to identify grassroots interest in better broadband, spread awareness of their projects and presell internet connections using a fiberhood approach. COS Business Engine is a BSS/OSS suite for automating fiber network business processes and operations. It enables operators to market and sell services from multiple providers in an online marketplace with zero-touch service provisioning.
COS clients include private ISPs and operators, public-private partnerships, municipalities and utilities and cooperatives in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. In October 2020, COS Systems was acquired by Pivot Partners. In February 2021, COS brought on new CEO Mikael Philipsson, who will further advance the company’s goal of automating fiber networks globally. One of the company’s founders, Anders Lindehall, will manage and strengthen relations with existing partners. New product functionality includes billing platform integrations and a workflow engine to automate new customer hookups. Since 2021, BG Communications, a network operator working with municipalities in Austria to build open-access FTTH, has been using COS Service Zones to capture customer interest and the COS Business Engine for operations. In addition, Kitsap Public Utility District in Washington has been using COS Business Engine for its rural, open-access fiber growth for six years. Privately held COS Systems is headquartered in Umeå, Sweden, and has U.S. headquarters in New York City.
www.cox.com 800-234-3993
Key Products: High-speed internet, digital video, voice and smart-home services
Summary: 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 and more than 99 percent of Cox residential customers have access to gigabit speeds. This year, Cox announced the company would begin offering 2 Gbps symmetrical speeds in neighborhoods across its footprint. Cox is making a multibillion-dollar infrastructure investment to continue leading in broadband services and enable future growth by building a 10 gigabit–capable fiber optic network. These enhancements will allow Cox to deliver multi-gigabit speeds to its customers in the next few years, both downstream and upstream, to support bandwidth-hungry applications. Cox also teamed with US Ignite to help make Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego among the first “smart gigabit communities.” In addition, Cox launched Cox2M, which provides custom IoT solutions for businesses and cities.
Cox has been a leader in bridging the digital divide for low-income families with school-age children through its Connect2Compete internet offer. It increased program speeds and helped connect more than 60,000 new customers during the pandemic. The company also pledged $60 million to close the digital learning gap. Cox doubled the download speed of its low-cost internet options ConnectAssist and Connect2Compete from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps, effective March 31, 2022. The company also joined White House officials to announce a partnership with the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which will give eligible households access to its 100 Mbps high-speed internet service at no cost. 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 MDU owners, managers and developers, SFU developers, and the residents and owners within their communities to support them in optimizing rents and occupancy and making their properties future-ready.
“The challenge isn’t simply constructing a fiber network; almost anyone can do that. The challenge is building a network designed for the next 30 years, operating professionally, offering in-demand products, and consistently providing exceptional customer service to the consumer, commercial and governmental customers.” – Brad Moline, President and CEO, ALLO Communications
www.ctcnet.us 301-933-1488
Key Products: Fiber and wireless broadband network planning and design, engineering, financial analysis, grant funding and strategies, digital equity, assessment, implementation
Summary: CTC Technology & Energy (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.
www.danella.com 610-828-6200
Key Products: FTTH network design, engineering, construction, testing
Summary: As Danella celebrates 50 years in business, CEO Jim Danella reflected that the company’s start wasn’t easy. After the final papers were signed transferring the ownership of a small construction company in Norristown, Pennsylvania, T.W. Faulkner, Jr. Inc., to the Danella Companies, most of Faulkner’s management team resigned. Since its founding, Danella grew from a tiny office/yard to having a rental footprint in each of the 50 states, construction in 15 states, and more than 1,800 employees across the country. 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 underground utility power and communications infrastructure installation and repair expertise. Viking’s capabilities include new construction development infrastructure, overhead to underground electric conversion, communications (fiber, coax, FTTx), directional drilling and locating services.
Danella also has been enhancing its management team. In 2020, Danella Engineering and Construction Corporation (DECC) tapped Danella veteran Dan Howick as its new vice president. He returned to Danella after serving a two-plus-year stint as the vice president of design and construction for Magellan Advisors. DECC offers broadband network design, engineering, planning, deployment and implementation fields. The company also is making efforts to boost diversity. In August 2020, it named Kate Howick as director of operations for the company’s engineering division. Among her many tasks is helping restart the engineering division, which focuses on broadband, and managing its day-to-day operations. Despite constraints presented by the pandemic, Danella bolstered its ranking in the 2021 Engineering News-Record’s report. Danella rose from 81 in 2020 to 78 in 2021. Danella ranks number 10 in the Top 20 Utility Services sector.
www.designnine.com; www.wideopennetworks.us 540-951-4400
Key Products: Planning and feasibility studies; business and financial planning; project management; network design, buildout and operations
Summary: Design Nine’s broadband planning and network design firm is well known for its expertise in local transport and open-access networks. Design Nine’s 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; nDanville, Rockbridge and Wired Road in Virginia; FastRoads in New Hampshire; AccessEagan in Minnesota; and fiber to the home in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Charles City County in Virginia.
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. The company has been recognized by “CIO Review” as a Top 20 Emerging Network Solution Provider. WideOpen Networks plans to develop 40 miles of fiber in Blacksburg, Virginia, 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, Virginia, works on projects throughout North America.
www.ditchwitch.com 580-336-4402; 800-654-6481
Key Products: Construction equipment for laying fiber
Summary: 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 mini 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 JT20XP horizontal directional drill package, which features the JT20XP drill and XP44 mixing system for midsize utility installation jobs. In 2019, Toro Company acquired Ditch Witch’s parent company, Charles Machine Works, for $700 million, a deal that allows Ditch Witch and other associated Charles Machine Works brands to access Toro’s reach and presence as a large international brand. Charles Machine Works is also the parent of several other underground-construction brands, including Subsite Electronics, DW/TXS, HammerHead, Radius HDD, American Augers, Trencor and MTI Equipment.
Among the company’s latest underground construction products are the RT80 Trencher and the JT24 Directional Drill. The new Ditch Witch Rock Monster HD back reamer is designed for solid rock drilling. To help contractors centralize fleet and machine information, Ditch Witch launched the Stand-On Skid Steer, the HX30G Vacuum Excavator and the Orange Intel Fleet Management System. 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. Ditch Witch’s factory is in Perry, Oklahoma, and the company has more than 1,400 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
Key Products: Conduit, cable-in-conduit, microducts, accessories
Summary: 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 conduit 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 a new fiber infrastructure to support tourism and the film industry – Waco, Texas; Senoia, Georgia; and Deadwood, South Dakota. Dura-Line has 20 locations and 1,500-plus employees worldwide.
www.dycomind.com 561-627-7171
Key Products: Program and project management, engineering, construction, maintenance, installation services
Summary: 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, architectural and engineering services, 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 all recently awarded Dycom construction and fulfillment service contracts and extensions, and Dycom recently signed a rural fiber services contract covering two states. Dycom is also finding new opportunities to assist electric co-ops with their FTTH builds. Steven Nielsen, CEO of Dycom, noted in the company’s fiscal 2021 first-quarter call that fiber construction revenue from electrical utilities was $57.4 million in the quarter and increased organically 37.2 percent year-over-year. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with more than 14,000 employees, Dycom posted $3.2 billion in revenue for the fiscal year 2021.
www.dzsi.com 877-946-6320
Key Products: Broadband connectivity, connected home and business, and mobile and optical edge transport solutions
Summary: 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 has paved the way in GPON, XGS-PON, 5G mobile, any haul, O-RAN, and optical LAN (FiberLanTM) 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 joined in 2020. That same year, he secured $64 million in new investments, erased all debt and showed a significant market expansion. Since 2020, DZS has made several strategic moves to increase its leadership position, including entering a partnership with Rakuten Mobile that led to the deployment of the industry’s first fully virtualized, cloud-native Open RAN (O-RAN) mobile network to millions of subscribers. In 2021, DZS acquired Optelian (5G mobile transport) and RIFT (network control and automation). In May 2022, DZS acquired specific core assets of ASSIA, a developer of broadband access quality-of-experience software solutions. DZS is now present in 150 million connected homes with software providing 125 million subscribers service assurance and in-home Wi-Fi analytics across across 30 of the top 50 global service providers, including Bouygues Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Liberty Latin America, Lumen, TalkTalk Group, Telefonica and TELUS. The DZS revenue at the end of second quarter of 2022 was $77 million, with orders of $101 million, despite supply chain disruptions, inflation pressures, and geopolitical uncertainty overseas.
“Fiber broadband creates opportunities at every level for communities, people, businesses and the companies that build, manage and deliver network services. We are at the beginning of a transformational cycle of innovation and economic growth, one that will be fueled by the level of capacity that only fiber broadband delivers. As we look to close the digital divide for all Americans, the challenges ahead are significant, and at Clearfield, we’re working to ensure our customers have the products they need when they need them, and that they can deliver fiber connections faster and more efficiently.” – Cheri Beranek, CEO, Clearfield
www.epb.com 423-648-1372
Key Products: Voice, video, data and smart-grid services provided over a fiber optic network
Summary: EPB’s FTTP network is frequently cited as a national model for deploying a community-based fiber network that provides broadband access 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 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.
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 annual losses with spoiled goods, lost productivity and other outage-related damages. A study by Bento Lobo, Ph.D., documents $2.69 billion in community benefits for Chattanooga during the first 10 years since EPB’s fiber optic deployment. Positive impacts include creating nearly 10,000 additional jobs (above-average growth), bridging the digital divide for students, reducing 4.7 million carbon emissions and participating in more than 100 national research projects testing smart-city technologies.
EPB also plays an active role in driving cybersecurity innovations. Quantum Protected Network, a cybersecurity technology developed by Qubitekk and field-tested at EPB, was named a finalist for a 2022 Edison Award. This new cybersecurity application 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 and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Today, EPB serves more than 120,000 homes and businesses. In addition to being the first to launch a 1 Gbps speed tier, EPB also premiered the first 10 Gbps fiber broadband service offering in 2015 for residential and business customers in its service territory. From the start, all EPB internet services included unlimited data, symmetrical upload and download speeds, and customer service and tech support 24/7/365. In July 2020, EPB partnered with Hamilton County Schools and other community partners to launch HCS EdConnect, which provides broadband internet to families with students in need at no charge. Qualified families receive 100 Mbps speeds, professionally installed routers and full technical support – and they can keep the service for at least 10 years. Although EPB had to raise the prices of its Fi TV packages due to rising content prices, the price for EPB Fi-Speed Internet remains the same – without increases since EPB launched the service in 2009. EPB launched EPB Broadband Solutions in 2018 to help other communities build fiber optic networks. In addition to offering expertise, EPB Broadband Solutions provides a range of services to reduce capital cost and financial risk while accelerating speed to market.
www.espicorp.com 877-799-3774
Key Products: UPS equipment for fiber installations
Summary: 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, AC/DC Power adapters, and much more. ESPi distributes its products directly and through various partners, including United Tel-Supply, Power & Tel, Graybar and KGP Logistics.
www.etisoftware.com 770-242-3620; 800-332-1078
Key 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
Summary: Founded in 1992, ETI Software Solutions is an employee-owned software company headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, with affiliate offices in England, Bulgaria and Ukraine. ETI helps utilities, municipalities and private broadband providers deploy fiber broadband services. Led by a team of telecommunications and software industry veterans, ETI’s professionals are dedicated to helping service providers grow, transform and keep their subscribers and partners happy.
ETI Software is experiencing tremendous growth and momentum today, led by its partnership with Microsoft and membership in the TM Forum. This collaboration birthed a service management platform that combines Microsoft Dynamics’ scalability, security and reliability with TM Forum standards and ETI’s expertise in device, subscriber and network management. Providers can now simplify the process of device and application integration, subscriber and service activation, and consolidation of data to reduce costs, improve customer experiences and roll out next-generation services faster and more efficiently. ETI Software provides a single point of control, enabling solutions that deliver new insights and more-personalized customer engagements spanning the entire subscriber life cycle. This solution allows ETI to offer enterprise-level capabilities to providers of all sizes. In 2021, Rhyan Neble, ETI’s vice president of innovation, was named a Top 100 Tech Innovators & Influencers at InterCon USA.
www.exfo.com 418-683-0211; 800-663-3936
Key Products: Testing, monitoring and analytics solutions for the communications industry
Summary: EXFO, headquartered in Quebec, Canada, has offered testing, monitoring and analytics solutions for 36 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 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. In mid-2019, EXFO introduced the Optical Xplorer, an optical fiber multimeter that verifies optical links and automatically finds and identifies faults. Also announced was the Optical Wave Expert, a device that integrates DWDM channel power validation and intelligent OTDR fault-locating capabilities on a single port.
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 been broadening its suite of 5G test tools and, in 2020, expanded the development of its cloud-native, AI-based Nova A|SA Adaptive Service Assurance platform. Since then, it has 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, including Openreach in the U.K. and eir in Ireland, which were announced within the last year. In August 2021, EXFO converted to a private company.
www.fiberdyne.com 315-895-8470; 800-894-9694
Key Products: Optical passive devices, multiplexers, fiber optic cable assemblies, termination boxes, FTTH drop cables, fiber testing and installation services
Summary: Fiberdyne Labs, Inc., established in 1992, is a manufacturer of 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, various wavelength-division-multiplexing solutions and a new 1RU termination box. 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.
www.finleyusa.com 800-225-9716
Key Products: Broadband network consulting, design and engineering services
Summary: Finley Engineering is one of the most extensive communications and network design companies in the U.S. With almost 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. The company 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. 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
Key Products: Test equipment, consumables and cable assemblies
Summary: FIS is a manufacturer and full-line distributor of communication fiber optics; test equipment, connectors, cable and cable assemblies, tools and toolkits, fiber optic consumable products and fiber distribution cabinets. FIS is not new to the marketplace; it has been servicing fiber optic contractors and broadband companies since its inception in 1985, selling test equipment, consumables and cable assemblies. FIS has continued to expand distribution and its manufacturing efforts elevating its services and products as the “safety of the buy” for a customer base of more than 8,000. With 250 employees, FIS manufactures fiber interconnects, cable, test equipment, splice-on connectors, and cable assemblies in the U.S.
Recent developments for the FTTx market include fiber interconnects for pedestal and pole mounting in FTTH networks. 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. It is manufacturing drop cables to connect the residential home to optical splitters on the pole or at the neighborhood pedestal. The FIS Fiber to the Home Solution is a program that 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 providers, including Ezee Fiber in Houston, Texas, Greenlight Networks in Rochester, NY, and MaxxSouth Broadband in Mississippi. Besides being a fiber supplier, FIS offers a series of fiber optic training courses: online, custom corporate training, hands-on, and in-person training at its Brightside Training Center.
www.foresitegroup.net 770-368-1399
Key Products: Broadband engineering, wireless services
Summary: Foresite Group is a multidisciplinary engineering, planning, design and consulting firm providing collaborative services to public- and private-sector clients nationwide. The company’s broadband engineering practice area integrates fiber optic engineering services, management and consultation expertise to provide comprehensive broadband connectivity programs to clients and communities. To understand each community’s unique needs, goals and capabilities, the company developed a four-phase program, including a community assessment, a broadband master plan, program implementation, and technology master planning. Clients include Huntsville Utilities (HU), UTOPIA Fiber, Verizon, Google Fiber and AT&T.
Foresite Group was instrumental in the HU fiber infrastructure network buildout. HU designated fibers for its use and smart-grid applications while leasing a portion to Google Fiber. The firm also completed high-level design for an institutional network for the city of New Orleans and the Foundation for Louisiana. Foresite Group is currently working with Northline Leander Development Company to provide fiber conduit consulting, design services, and project management services for its mixed-use development. Headquartered in the Atlanta area, Foresite Group has 150 associates in 15 offices nationwide.
www.fujitsu.com/us/products/network 888-362-7763
Key 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
Summary: 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 the customer requires. 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 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. Traverse City (Michigan) Light & Power also tapped Fujitsu to help launch gigabit broadband internet and digital voice services for residential and commercial subscribers in October 2020.
With remote work and learning on the rise, Fujitsu deployed several new networks in 2020–2022, including a 53-mile FTTH network for Craig-Botetourt Rural Electric Cooperative in New Castle, Virginia. Valley TeleCom Group in Wilcox, Arizona, deployed the Fujitsu 1FINITY optical networking platform and Virtuora NC, enabling its existing network to support higher bandwidth and software-defined operations and management. Similar deployments were made for Pioneer Communications in southwestern Kansas and CityWest in British Columbia, enabling access to essential digital services in underserved communities. In 2021, Florida’s Fort Pierce Utilities Authority (FPUA) selected Fujitsu to plan, design and deploy a broadband network expansion to be part of neighborhood revitalization for promoting long-term business growth on the Florida coast. 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 the most significant challenges facing humanity. 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 $32 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.
“Fiber broadband providers need secure, scalable, intelligent systems to operate what has become a complex web of technology. In order to provide ubiquitous service, it’s time to simplify operations management software by consolidating disparate systems into a single platform. Leveraging open APIs, enabling automation and data analytics to drive business insights, offers a path toward sustainable networks for the future.” – Jeff Fraleigh, President, ETI Software Solutions
www.gigabitnow.com 866-748-8066
Key Products: FTTH network solutions and internet services, including design, construction, operations, connectivity and customer support
Summary: 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 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 (including senior living) communities. GigabitNow lit large sections of Fullerton, California, in 2020 as part of its FiberCity project with SiFi Networks and started working with customers in neighboring communities on new connectivity services. It announced a new project for Placentia, California, in June 2021. Several other FiberCity projects with SiFi are underway, including in Salem, Massachusetts – GigabitNow’s first residential/business deployment on the East Coast. The company is also deploying new FTTH community networks in Oregon and Arizona – the list was 17 deployments by mid-2022. 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.glds.com 800-882-7950
Key Products: Software for broadband customer management, billing, provisioning and workforce management
Summary: Since 1980, GLDS has helped small operators look big by providing flexible billing and management software at affordable prices – including cloud-based options requiring much smaller investments. With major equipment suppliers, GLDS supports FTTH, IPTV, DOCSIS, OTT, LTE, wireless and legacy delivery systems and native (not DOCSIS) provisioning for Calix, ADTRAN, Nokia and other FTTH platforms. The company has installed solutions for more than 800 small and midsize broadband operators (12 new ones added in 2020), including FTTH, cable, satellite and wireless operators ranging from small startups to providers with more than 550,000 customers.
GLDS has offices in California, Wisconsin, Alabama and Lithuania and supports operators in all U.S. states except Delaware and 47 countries worldwide. Key products include BroadHub for billing and customer management (by salespeople, both in-person and remotely) and SuperController for automated provisioning. MyBroadbandMarket allows operators to win new subscribers 24/365 by providing a virtual salesperson who can take customers through online shopping and a self-subscribing “mall.” GLDS hosts the platform, maintains security certificates, and ensures PA-DSS compliance requirements, but it appears part of any service provider’s online presence. WinForce tech, a mobile workforce management platform, empowers field techs with tools previously available only to office staff. The GLDS best-of-suite approach ensures that critical features come pre-integrated, eliminating the need for expensive, lengthy development timelines. Last year, GLDS partnered with Paymentus Holdings, a provider of cloud-based bill payment technology, to bring frictionless payment solutions to broadband customers throughout North America. The payment solutions are serviced and installed through GLDS to streamline and expand payment options for broadband service customers, including AmazonPay, PayPal, Venmo and retail merchants such as Walmart.
www.gonetspeed.com 855-891-7291
Key Products: Voice, video and gigabit internet services
Summary: Headquartered in Rochester, New York, GoNetspeed serves residential and small-business customers on its high-speed, fiber optic network. GoNetspeed launched services late in 2017 and, during the first six months of 2018, built 100 miles of the network across 13 towns in two states, serving more than 30,000 homes. In 2018, GoNetspeed began building fiber in West Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut, providing residential customers and small businesses access to internet speeds up to 1 Gbps. In 2021, GoNetspeed, OTELCO, Ontario & Trumansburg Telephone Companies, and Upstate Fiber Networks were acquired by Oak Hill Capital. These companies are rebranding to GoNetspeed over the next year in preparation for a significant fiber internet expansion in Maine, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut. GoNetspeed currently provides service to more than 235,000 homes in the Northeast.
www.graybar.com 800-GRAYBAR (472-9227)
Key Products: PON electronics, fiber cabinets and enclosures, fiber optic cable, fiber splice closures and pedestals, DC power, fiber terminals
Summary: 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. Graybar has won several accolades as a company. Fortune named Graybar on the World’s Most Admired Companies list for the 20th year and 399 on its Fortune 500 ranking of America’s largest companies. Graybar also was named one of Energage’s Top Workplaces USA. Founded in 1869 as Gray and 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 $8.8 billion in 2021, Graybar employs 8,800 people at 300 locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. It is one of North America’s largest and oldest employee-owned companies.
www.greenlightnetworks.com 585-351-6600; 716-919-4300
Key Products: High-speed internet services
Summary: Greenlight Networks is an ultra-high-speed broadband service provider offering customers internet speeds up to 2 Gbps. Greenlight Networks was founded in 2011 and built, owns and operates a fiber optic network that provides high-speed internet connections. The company currently offers high-speed fiber internet to more than 90,000 homes in 20 municipalities in the Rochester, Buffalo, Binghamton and Albany, New York, areas. Last year, Greenlight Networks completed its acquisition of Plexicomm, a Binghamton-based ISP, providing a platform for Greenlight to expand its fiber network across New York’s Southern Tier. In June, Greenlight Networks announced that private equity firm Oak Hill Capital became its majority investor, 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. Oak Hill announced plans to invest up to $300 million to expand Greenlight’s network to more than 800,000 homes in the next few years.
www.gvtc.com 830-885-4411; 800-367-4882
Key Products: Internet, cable TV, smart-home security, phone
Summary: GVTC, an independent ISP, delivers high-speed internet, cable TV, smart-home security and phone to residential and business customers in far northern San Antonio, the Texas Hill Country and South-Central Texas. Today, more than 80 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. To date, GVTC has installed nearly 10,000 new routers.
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 out fiber across Boerne, Bulverde and Gonzales, Texas, in partnership with the cities to make them attractive destinations for residents and businesses. It 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. To support the community, in 2022, GVTC awarded $200,000 in scholarships to local students through the GVTC Foundation. Scholarship categories include leadership, volunteerism and vocational/technical. GVTC was named as one of PCMag’s Best Gaming ISPs for 2021. Located in New Braunfels, Texas, GVTC has 224 employees.
www.prforbroadband.com 914-242-0010
Key Products: Marketing consulting services
Summary: These days, it seems like Harrison Edwards is involved in just about every aspect of the fiber broadband industry. The integrated marketing and public relations company emerged in the mid-2010s and helped shape modern-day community engagement strategies for broadband projects. Since then, it has widened its reach to provide stakeholder engagement services, customer acquisition strategies and political advocacy. The company works with network operators, ISPs, engineering firms, construction companies, software vendors, public agencies, and nonprofit organizations to help drive broadband access and adoption. In the last year, 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, Traverse City Light & Power, and many others.
Notably, the Harrison Edwards team helped launch the Southern Tier 8 eight-county municipal project into the spotlight, bringing national attention to the Southern Tier of New York for the first time in decades. In the coming year, Bob Knight, CEO of Harrison Edwards, will serve as a co-chair of the 2023 Broadband Communities Summit in Houston. He and Pamela Tucker, director of marketing at Harrison Edwards, will be participating in the Fiber Broadband Association’s regional Fiber Connect conferences, leading sessions on stakeholder engagement and customer acquisition strategies for emerging fiber networks. Julia Emrick, the company’s vice president of operations, will be busy expanding Harrison Edwards’ grant writing capabilities and engaging with industry partners to help drive broadband projects forward successfully.
www.horizonconnects.com 866-418-8126
Key Products: Internet, Ethernet, hosted voice, cloud express, dark fiber, wavelength, data center connectivity services
Summary: Horizon is a facilities-based fiber optic broadband service provider based in Ohio with expanding services across the Midwest. The company has announced or begun FTTH buildouts in several Ohio markets, including Greenfield, Washington Court House, Lancaster, Zanesville, Athens, Logan, Johnstown, and Hillsboro – and more are 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. 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. This is also the year Horizon selected the ADTRAN 10G fiber access platform and intelligent SaaS software to build a new fiber network throughout several communities in Ohio. Horizon is devoted to connecting its customers to their worlds with cutting-edge technology.
www.hotwirecommunications.com 800-409-4733; 800-355-5668
Key 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
Summary: 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 fiber-to-the-premises communications solutions in the U.S. It provides 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 fully owns and operates its fully redundant fiber backbone network, which is monitored 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.
In 2014, Hotwire became the first residential gigabit internet provider in Florida. In 2020, it provided a 10 Gbps symmetrical connection to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach – one of the fastest hotel connections in the world. It completed a 10 Gbps network (scalable to 100 Gbps) for the Miami Beach Convention Center and was selected to operate the municipal fiber optic network in Salisbury, North Carolina. 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. Late last year, it became the first ISP in the U.S. to deploy 25G PON equipment. The company is considered one of the best network providers for gamers, for both 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 2022.
“Access to high-performance fiber networks is about more than advancing an economic development agenda. For residents and businesses, it equates to opportunity, it equates to fairness, it equates to excellence.” – Jeff Reiman, President, The Broadband Group
www.rrh.com 386-236-1500
Key Products: Telecommunications network design for multifamily buildings, technology amenity engineering
Summary: 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 500,000 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
Key Products: Broadband policy research and municipal broadband advocacy
Summary: The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has a vision of 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 that focuses 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 been tracking how federal broadband funds in the American Rescue Plan Act and the recently passed Infrastructure & Investment Jobs Act are (or could be) put to use 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.
www.inteleconnect.com 734-604-1563
Key Products: Service provider negotiations/contracts, RFPs/RFIs, financial feasibility plans, fiber infrastructure design
Summary: Founded in 1998 by Stephen Mayo and headquartered in Saline, Michigan, Inteleconnect, Inc. assists clients to develop and implement telecommunication strategies for master-planned communities, municipalities, colleges, universities, and mixed-use developments. Current projects/clients include ChoiceLight in South Bend, Indiana; a dark fiber network across three counties and San Diego State University on its new Mission Valley development that includes a new football stadium (replacing the former San Diego Chargers stadium); and 4,700 multifamily homes, retail, and commercial tenants. Completed projects include Avalon in Marietta, Georgia, Lake Nona Medical City in Orlando, Florida.
www.iqgeo.com 720-577-4732; 385-501-7155
Key Products: Network management geospatial software that supports enterprise sales, planning, design, construction and maintenance processes for telecom and utility operators
Summary: 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 smaller, regional operators to deliver the digital innovation they need to increase network resilience, operational safety and business ROI.
In 2022, 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 later this year. Headquartered in Cambridge, England, IQGeo posted revenue of $14.8 million in 2021, up from $12.6 million in 2020. 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
Key Products: Legal services, public policy advocacy
Summary: 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 and trade associations servicing a range of industries, including telecommunications. Keller and Heckman is a pioneer in the use of interdisciplinary approaches to solving problems and has an in-house scientific staff that works closely with the attorneys 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, both nationally and in more than 40 states.
During the last quarter of a century, 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 of the 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 managements, 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 on 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 will benefit from the firm’s near-daily digest, at www.khlaw.com/practices/telecommunications/digest, and its telecom blog, at www.beyondtelecomlawblog.com.
www.kgpco.com 800-755-1950; 800-328-5142
Key Products: Equipment for wireline and wireless networks; inventory management, logistics, site development, sourcing, supply chain management
Summary: 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 deliver a complement of 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. KGP’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. KGPCo is headquartered in Faribault, Minnesota.
www.lastmile.net 239-202-2975
Key Products: Management partnering, consulting and capital-funding services
Summary: 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. It also works directly with several high-profile investment and banking firms, including AIG, Argus Capital, 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.
Several LMC clients have expanded their networks via acquisitions and targeted fiber builds. Boston Omaha Corporation, through its subsidiary FIF St. George, completed its acquisitions of InfoWest Go Fiber, fiber and fixed wireless internet service providers in St. George, Utah. The InfoWest and Go Fiber businesses provide high-speed internet services to more than 20,000 customers throughout Southern and Central Utah, Northern Arizona and Moapa Valley, Nevada. Other clients, such as C Spire, continue progressing with network builds and expansion efforts. C Spire acquired Troy Cablevision, including Union Springs Telephone Company, which provided cable TV, internet, fiber broadband, and other services to business and residential customers in Pike, Coffee, Crenshaw and Dale counties. This acquisition is part of C Spire’s broader plan to invest $500 million over the next three years to accelerate the deployment of fiber broadband internet in markets across Alabama.
www.lumosnetworks.com; www.northstate.net 855-465-8667
Key Products: High-speed residential and business-class broadband internet, managed Wi-Fi, digital television and voice services
Summary: Lumos provides fiber internet service, whole-home Wi-Fi, voice and streaming services to nearly 200,000 homes and businesses in Virginia and North Carolina, known as NorthState. The company’s customers enjoy the fastest, symmetrical gig speeds built on a fiber optic network backed by local, expert customer care teams. In fall 2021, Lumos embarked on a bold growth plan as a stand-alone company with an equally ambitious fiber optic network expansion plan. The company is committed to supporting its entire footprint with 100 percent fiber-to-the-home access, a project that is well underway. In 2022, Lumos is expanding its fiber optic network to another 80,000 homes and businesses and launching a multi-gig, ultra-high-speed fiber internet tier, with speeds up to 2 Gbps for consumers and small businesses. A vital part of the company’s growth includes bringing fiber internet service to underserved communities through public-private partnerships, meeting a critical need at the local level.
Since late 2021, Lumos has completed or embarked on five key expansion projects: Virginia’s Alleghany Highlands (an increase of more than 12,000 fiber-capable addresses and the addition of more than 650 route miles of fiber); Waynesboro, Augusta County, Stuarts Draft, Crozet and Bedford County, Virginia (expansion to more than 12,000 homes and businesses); Greensboro, Kernersville, Oak Ridge, Walkertown, High Point, Thomasville and Randleman, North Carolina (including bringing the High Point region to being served by a nearly 100 percent fiber optic network); Alamance, Guilford, Orange and Wayne Counties, North Carolina (more than 53,000 additional families and businesses); and Orange County, North Carolina – the most significant public-private partnership in the company’s history – to bring ultra-high-speed fiber internet service to approximately 28,000 homes and businesses (10,000 of the Orange County locations currently have little or no internet service).
The areas targeted for expansion will have access to direct fiber connections to the internet at speeds the regions have never had before, helping to place the communities at the forefront of the gig economy. Once completed, the communities served by Lumos will reap the benefits of a 100 percent fiber optic network. Lumos seeks opportunities to partner with communities to bring ultra-high-speed fiber internet to additional areas. The company passionately believes that its planned expansion projects demonstrate the effectiveness of public-private partnerships to bring ultra-high-speed fiber internet service to rural communities, helping close the digital divide.
www.lusfiber.com 337-993-4237
Key Product: Municipal fiber network provider
Summary: LUS Fiber operates one of the nation’s largest municipal fiber-to-the-home networks providing internet, video and phone services, utilizing the only technology capable of delivering symmetrical speeds up to 10 Gbps to the end user. This year, LUS Fiber received $21 million from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration to build out more than 1 million feet of fiber optic cable infrastructure in the rural Louisiana communities of Church Point, Eunice, Mamou, Basile and Ville Platte, recently ranked as having the fifth-slowest average internet rate in the U.S. In addition to building out new fiber networks for its neighbors, LUS Fiber also works closely with community partners to ensure that school children have internet access for virtual learning. Most recently, it entered into a cooperative agreement with the Lafayette Parish School System and Link & Learn to install a Wi-Fi network across a test area that provides access to filtered, educational Wi-Fi for more than 1,100 students living in underserved neighborhoods. The network will run the first Wi-Fi 6 outdoor network in the U.S.
www.magellanbroadband.com 888-960-5299
Key Products: Broadband and telecom planning, deployment and management services
Summary: Magellan partners with municipalities, tribal governments, utilities, co-ops and regional organizations to build transformational fiber, wireless and broadband networks. It provides turnkey fiber and broadband planning, engineering, grant development, implementation and construction and project management of the fastest, most technologically advanced fiber and broadband networks. Magellan serves more than 400 customers across 35 states, connecting 50 million people to the digital economy. Magellan’s projects have led to more than $1 billion of investments in broadband networks that connect more than 1,000 schools, hospitals, libraries and government facilities and pass nearly 1 million homes and businesses with fiber and wireless broadband services.
“Our shift to platform-based hardware, software and services solutions, underpinned by a unified software-defined operating system, has unlocked software-driven automation and broadband service agility for our customers and result in dramatic operational flexibility and cost savings, increased subscriber loyalty, faster time to market and increased ARPU. We are well-positioned to take advantage of a decade-long infrastructure upgrade cycle to multi-gigabit services currently evolving in our industry.” – Charlie Vogt, CEO, DZS
www.mastec.com 305-599-1800
Key Products: FTTx deployment, outside-plant cabling, engineering, inside-plant construction and installation, joint trench systems, splicing, testing, systems integration, fulfillment, maintenance
Summary: 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. Headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, MasTec supplies crews and equipment to its customers 24/7. The company, which has nearly 22,000 employees, reported 2021 revenue of $8 billion.
www.michels.us 920-583-3132
Key Products: Fiber optic network construction, including outside-plant construction, structured cabling and fiber splicing and testing
Summary: 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. Michels ranked 27th on Engineering News-Record’s annual Top 400 Contractors list this year – the 17th year it has placed in the top 100. Michels has 8,000 employees and more than 40 regional offices throughout the U.S.
www.mscon.com 435-623-8601
Key Products: Communications engineering services
Summary: Mid-State Consultants (MSC) provides communications engineering services for telephone, data and video networks. Since its establishment in 1963, MSC has served a broad clientele, including local exchange carriers, RBOCs, interexchange carriers, competitive access providers, ISPs, cellular operators, communities, utilities and CATV operators. Services include design and project management for FTTH projects, CAD/GIS mapping, conversion and construction supervision, growth forecasting, verification of existing facilities, investigation of potential migration strategies and cost estimates.
MSC continues to evolve. In September 2021, JSI acquired the company. JSI said that the acquisition of MSC will enhance JSI’s ability to help clients as they take advantage of new funding resources available on the federal and state levels such as the BEAD program to expand and maintain broadband networks. The acquisition of Mid-State Consultants grows the engineering capabilities that JSI began building last year. It also bolsters JSI’s solutions to serve the western United States, Alaska and Hawaii. Led by Tasos Tsolakis, CEO of JSI, Steve Kidd will remain president of Mid-State. JSI President Steve Meltzer and N-com President Dennis Wisdom will stay in their respective roles. Mid-State Consultants is headquartered in Nephi, Utah, with seven regional offices throughout the U.S.
www.gomultilink.com 440-366-6966
Key Products: Fiber distribution and cable management solutions, connectors, splice enclosures and cabinets; MDU enclosures; raceway and pathway solutions
Summary: 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.
www.neoconnect.us 970-309-3500
Key Products: Consulting, feasibility studies, grants and funding advice; design and engineering services
Summary: NEO Connect advises clients about grant and funding opportunities, acquisitions, consulting, feasibility studies and engineering services for broadband networks. Working with more than 200 local-government clients across the U.S. and Canada, it has a track record for improving broadband and building smart-city networks, allowing communities to create resilient platforms for economic development and infrastructure projects. Today, the company is helping its clients get ready to take advantage of new funding sources through federal programs such as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Notable projects include working with DMEA, an electric cooperative serving Colorado’s Delta and Montrose counties, to build gigabit fiber (NEO wrote the grant application and coordinated all financing efforts for $2.2 million from the state); identifying more than a dozen potential new community and state partnerships for the network NEO originally designed for Denver’s school district; and writing a feasibility study and broadband plan for a joint project for Greeley and Windsor, Colorado, surrounded by larger cities already implementing gigabit strategies. Over the past few years, NEO has helped close acquisitions and investments totaling more than $135 million in funding for three service providers. Founder and CEO Diane Kruse has 25 years of experience in the broadband industry and has served as board chair of the Fiber to the Home Council (now Fiber Broadband Association).
www.networkconnex.com 888-346-2591
Key Products: Design and engineering; fiber and wireless construction; fiber placement, splicing, testing and acceptance; construction management; ongoing maintenance; emergency restoration
Summary: In 2021, Network Connex purchased Advantage Engineers, which joined forces with CCSI Networks, Fairhaven Integration Services, National Technologies (NTI), Precision Design Services and VERTICOM to provide best-in-class digital communications infrastructure services to the telecom market. With more than 900 employees and seasoned professionals in all ranks, Network Connex is positioned to accelerate FTTH network deployments in communities across the country. The company’s services include design and engineering; fiber and wireless construction; fiber placement, splicing, testing, and acceptance; construction management; and ongoing maintenance for sustainable, long-term growth. Serving the telecom industry for more than 20 years, Network Connex has completed hundreds of broadband deployments connecting community anchor institutions, homes and businesses. Rural and underserved communities continue to be a focus as the company works with others to close the digital gap.
www.nex-tech.com 785-567-4281; 877-625-7872
Key Products: Internet, video, voice, mobile, home security and business services
Summary: Nex-Tech was an early FTTP pioneer, with its first fiber built in Hill City, Kansas, in 1996. Initially launched as the CLEC subsidiary of Rural Telephone Cooperative, the parent company eventually took Nex-Tech as its name. Since then, Nex-Tech has deployed fiber to more than 60 rural communities and underserved areas in Kansas. The telco continues to expand its network in rural areas of Kansas and is currently building FTTP in Great Bend, Kansas. Over its FTTP network, Nex-Tech delivers up to 1 Gbps internet speeds, streaming TV, home security, and local and long-distance phone service. Customers can also sign up for its premium Nex-Tech Premium Wi-Fi, which provides whole-home coverage starting at $6 per access point. The telco also provides business solutions, including cloud services, cloud phone, network security, managed IT, physical security and surveillance, advertising solutions and network operations monitoring. For the third consecutive year, Channel Futures ranked Nex-Tech as a leader among managed service providers. Nex-Tech’s position at No. 238 of 501 places the telecommunications company as a top rural technology provider in the field of premier global companies. Nex-Tech supports customers with stores in more than 20 locations, a full-service help desk, and a 24-hour network operations center.
Nex-Tech’s leadership continues to have an active role in FTTH and related broadband industry organizations. In January, The Fiber Broadband Association named Jimmy Todd, CEO/general manager at Nex-Tech, as the new secretary of the board for a three-year term. In addition, the FCC called Todd a Precision Ag Connectivity Task Force member. The task force will continue its work to provide advice and recommendations to the FCC on accelerating the deployment of broadband internet access service on unserved agricultural land to promote precision agriculture. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nex-Tech launched a Continuous Learning Initiative that works with schools to provide connectivity to unserved students learning at home. Headquartered in Lenora, Kansas, Nex-Tech has delivered service for more than 70 years.
www.nokia.com 888-665-4228
Key Products: Wireline and wireless network equipment, software for network management, IoT technology, cloud solutions
Summary: 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 and Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. In 2021, Nokia will be fully 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. In 2020, Nokia introduced the industry’s first 25G PON technology; it announced 100G PON over a single fiber wavelength in 2022. However, it 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. Its Quillion chipset powers next-generation fiber and copper solutions.
Many providers have been using Nokia technology to deliver 10 Gbps fiber services to end users. FP5 is Nokia’s advanced processor for service provider IP networks. For optical networks, Nokia started deploying its PSE-V coherent chipset to give customers increased performance and cost efficiency. Its submarine networks business remains the market leader. Also, in 2021, Nokia Cloud and Network Services launched for private wireless its MX Industrial Edge, a new solution category to enable on-premises processing of a host of Industry 4.0 applications and help accelerate customer digitalization plans. Its first software-as-a-service products give its communications service provider customers more flexibility. Nokia is also building a vast network covering farms in two states in India. Operating in about 130 countries, Nokia closed 2021 with revenue of about $23 billion (a third of it in North America). It averaged about 88,000 employees in 2021 (11,000 in North America), with an annual R&D budget of about $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.)
Key Products: Optical fiber, optical fiber cable, fusion splicers, fiber management and connectivity products, network design services
Summary: OFS’s heritage, which can be 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. 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. Its 6912-strand high-density cable, introduced in August 2020, can be deployed only 1.25 inches in diameter – and even smaller in some data center 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 ending March 2021, Furukawa Electric had $7.4 billion in revenue – almost $1.5 billion was for fiber and associated products. The company had 50,000 employees worldwide as of March 2020.
Although Furukawa said in its earnings report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 that sales volumes in its Communications Solutions segment were below the forecast due to raw material shortages, they’re more than 20 percent higher than last year. Rollable Ribbon cable sales were 1.6 times higher compared with the previous year and were a driver of overall sales growth. The company reported the Communications Segment sales were 191.3 Yen ($1.4 billion). Rollable fiber cable (mainly for outside plants) was a bright spot, accounting for a third of cable sales. The cable may be “rolled” (compacted); counts of 432, 576, 864, 1728 or 3456; optical fibers are now available in a gel-free, loose-tube cable design. To form these ribbons, individual 200-micron fibers are partially bonded at predetermined points. The 1728-fiber-count cables can be routed in the existing 1.25-inch pathway and the 3456-fiber cables will fit into 2-inch pathways. This March, OFS tested a more accurate “perimeter sensing” AcoustiSens cable, developed with NEC. It uses Rayleigh backscattering to sense intruders’ foot pressure on the deployed telecom cable.
www.ontracinc.com 423-317-0009
Key Products: Broadband drops, splicing and installations
Summary: This national company is a proven leader in connectivity with a core focus on broadband fulfillment services such as drops, splicing and installations. On Trac was built through its founders’ unique and extensive experiences and deeply rooted convictions. These dynamics are echoed in the corporate name, On Trac, which reflects a philosophy of trust, rewards, accountability and consistency. On Trac is committed to the fiber broadband industry and serving its client partners’ best interests. The company’s service history for the past 20 years includes more than 30 specific fiber broadband deployments with variances of customer specifications on all phases and types of work. On Trac has serviced more than 1 million fiber broadband addresses nationwide with an ever-expanding footprint. This number represents current and historic client partnerships – daily, On Trac services more than 500 addresses in various operations and communities. The company understands the importance of quality, image and customer experience while fitting into the culture of its client partners. This has led to many successful public and private fiber broadband deployments.
www.onugsolutions.com 919-876-5455
Key Products: Outside-plant engineering, planning and design; project management; feasibility studies; consulting services; quality assurance; construction
Summary: ONUG Communications is approaching its 23rd year as a national engineering and design firm in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is relocating its headquarters to a larger facility in Raleigh to accommodate its rapid growth in the industry. Over the years, ONUG has expanded its role with major clients such as Google Fiber, AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon. Beyond working with these national providers, ONUG works on various projects for regional telcos, rural ILECs, campuses, retirement communities, local/state utilities, electrical co-ops, and municipalities such as NC-DOT and Northwest Fiberworx in Vermont. The services it provides to clients include feasibility studies, overall plans, designs and help navigating federal and state FTTH grant processes.
In 2021, ONUG planned projects that passed more than 140,000 homes with FTTH services and created innovative designs that included microtrenching for urban and rural environments. ONUG also provided 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. In addition, it consulted on middle-mile projects, bringing fiber to unreached areas by utilizing significant interstates and highways for FTTx distribution by ISPs. ONUG Communications’ ongoing partnerships help contribute to its success. ONUG’s collaboration with Biarri Networks contributes to optimal efficiency in the design of FTTx, which reduces cost and increases the speed of delivery. 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
Key Products: Internet, voice and IPTV video services for cities, MDUs, businesses and homes
Summary: 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 new 100 Gbps link between Chicago and Indianapolis, and a data center in Orlando. It has stated a goal to pass 1 million premises. In response to the pandemic, Pavlov Media upgraded school network connections to 10 Gbps to help teachers, staff and students meet online demands.
Pavlov Media is a full-service network provider, and its 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.
www.ptsupply.com 800-238-7514
Key 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
Summary: 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. 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.
www.ppc-online.com 315-431-7200; 800-800-6652
Key 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
Summary: PPC 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. In recent years, PPC has grown its fiber portfolio through research and development and the addition of well-known brands such as OPTERNA, SPC, Net-Tech Technology (NT2) and M2FX. This year, PPC acquired Communication Associates Inc., resulting in the addition of RF plug-in attenuators to its product portfolio. PPC also recently 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. PPC Broadband is a wholly owned subsidiary of Belden. It is headquartered in East Syracuse, New York, with two additional U.S. locations and other facilities in China, Denmark, Germany, India, Mexico, St. Kitts, Tunisia and the United Kingdom.
www.preformed.com 440-461-5200
Key Products: Fiber optic and copper splice closures, high-speed cross-connect devices, cable anchoring, control hardware systems and asset inspections
Summary: 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. 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 2021 were $517 million.
www.prysmiangroup.com 859-572-8000; 800-713-5312
Key Products: Optical fiber and telecommunications cables
Summary: 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 vendor was selected by the Mexican government-run Comisión Federal de Electricidad 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. This year, the company announced it is investing an additional $30 million to the $85 million already reported last year to increase optical fiber cable capacity and capability in plants in North America. Prysmian is headquartered in Milan, Italy.
www.q.com 855-748-6123
Key Products: Fiber internet, voice, Wi-Fi and streaming video
Summary: 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, Omaha, Phoenix and Minneapolis. It recently expanded its fiber network in several other cities, including Boulder, Colorado, where it is completing a fiber construction project to bring homes and businesses 1 Gbps internet service. In Springfield, Missouri, Quantum Fiber will be the anchor tenant in a citywide broadband network called SpringNet. It will build and own the final drops to connect homes and businesses in that area and provide internet services to city residents. In St. Petersburg, Florida, it will provide fiber network services in Reflection St. Pete, a new condominium community that is part of a downtown renaissance.
Transforming from CenturyLink Fiber, the Quantum Fiber Connected Communities division will work 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), 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. In 2022, Quantum’s goal is to enable 1.5 to 2 million new locations annually. Headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, Quantum Fiber’s parent company, Lumen, has about 39,000 employees and posted operating revenue of $19.69 billion in 2021.
www.rendernetworks.com 833-293-9013
Key Product: Network design and construction solutions
Summary: Render’s digital network construction platform enables telecommunications and utility network operators and construction teams to eliminate manual processes from construction and deploy the best possible fiber networks more efficiently than ever before. Using GIS and mobile and automation technologies, Render’s construction management platform transforms geospatial network designs into deliverable work and digitizes real-time data flow between the office and the field, delivering a new level of resource efficiency and project visibility. Render continues to evolve. Earlier this year, IFM Investors’ private equity Growth Fund acquired a majority stake in Render Networks. IFM’s A$40 million (U.S. $27.1M) investment, including growth capital, was led by Adrian Kerley and Bora Han from IFM Investors.
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. It has successfully accelerated the delivery of fiber and wireless infrastructure to connect more than 1 million premises. Render also expanded its Network Construction Platform to include three solutions: Render Redline, Render Connect, and Render Scale – designed to reduce the time and effort required to manage all sizes and types of network builds. Significant projects include the SpringNet FTTH network in Springfield, Missouri; Craighead Electric in Jonesboro, Arkansas; open and dark fiber deployments in California; and FTTH networks in Indiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Customers consistently experience up to 50 percent faster build times with a 30 percent reduction in field supervision and administration costs.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Render technology enabled project administrators and construction teams across the country to navigate continuity risks and keep projects moving. The company partnered with COS Systems to optimize the end-to-end delivery of fiber and wireless networks. It also partnered with Calix to offer Calix customers premium access to the unique digital construction platform. 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
Key Products: FTTx network planning, design, deployment, operation and maintenance
Summary: Sertex is an expert in fiber optic infrastructure deployment in the Northeast. The company has provided leading-edge services to telecommunication, utility and municipal customers for more than three decades. The vision of Sertex Broadband Solutions is to deploy FTTH networks in unserved and underserved areas and give gigabit-speed internet access to every home and business. The company’s model makes publicly owned/privately operated networks affordable and scalable with future-proof fiber technology. Currently, Sertex is deploying an island-wide FTTx network on Block Island in partnership with the Town of New Shoreham, Rhode Island, and constructing last-mile fiber networks in Chicopee and South Hadley, Massachusetts. The company recently completed the construction of last-mile fiber networks in 15 hill towns in western Massachusetts and a communitywide municipal network in Plainville, Connecticut. Last year, town officials in Sharon, Connecticut, engaged Sertex to conduct a broadband infrastructure feasibility study for the town. Under the contract, Sertex developed a feasibility analysis with cost estimates for an open-access, FTTx broadband network to serve all residents, businesses, government agencies and emergency service providers. This year, the company began working with officials in the Town of Barkhamsted, Connecticut, to assess community interest in and costs associated with building a municipally owned fiber broadband network to connect and serve the entire town.
www.smithville.com 812-876-2211; 800-742-4084
Key Products: High-speed internet, streaming TV, voice, home automation and security services, cloud services, IoT/big data support
Summary: Celebrating its 100th year of operations, privately owned Smithville Communications, Indiana’s most prominent independent telecom company, has 205 employees and has built out fiber to Indiana homes and businesses for more than two decades. Called the “state champion of rural broadband” by Indiana’s Lt. Governor, Smithville continues its commitment to symmetrical gigabit projects, as demonstrated by a significant fiber overbuild in Jasper last year. The company also continues to expand its gigabit fiber operations out of its Ellettsville headquarters near Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University.
Leveraging significant private investments with catalytic funds from Indiana’s rural Next Level Connections Broadband Grant program, Smithville is bringing high-speed fiber connectivity to north-central Indiana near Sharpsville and an area of rural Monroe County. The Monroe project is part of a continuing larger initiative with the South Central Indiana Rural Electric Membership Cooperative (REMC). The partnership accelerates the delivery of fiber internet within the companies’ common service areas. The project is on track to be completed by June 2023.
Smithville’s plans to accelerate fiber deployments in its continuing partnership with the Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC, where the two companies participate in a joint fiber construction project slated to wrap up by the end of 2022. Smithville continues to see residential growth through “best speed available” residential service offerings with no data caps. 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, in 2021 Smithville planned and launched a customer experience initiative to raise its already-high service bar.
www.sonic.com 888-766-4233
Key Products: 10-gig fiber internet access for homes and businesses, voice service, co-location, business networking
Summary: Based in the North Bay region, Sonic is the largest independent internet service provider in California 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. 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.
www.superioressex.com 770-657-6000
Key Products: Premises and outside-plant fiber and copper cable products
Summary: 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.
www.tdstelecom.com; www.tdsfiber.com 866-571-6662
Key Products: Internet access, phone and TV services
Summary: TDS Telecommunications LLC (TDS Telecom/TDS) delivers high-speed internet, TV entertainment and phone services to more than 1,100 rural, suburban and metropolitan communities across the U.S. With 1.2 million connections, TDS is a rapidly growing technology company. Powered by fiber and new technologies, TDS delivers up to 2 Gbps internet speeds and offers IPTV entertainment solutions and traditional phone services. TDS also offers businesses VoIP advanced communications solutions, dedicated internet service, data networking and hosted-managed services. Over the past year, TDS has continued to extend its FTTH footprint across multiple states it serves in the Midwest and New England. The service provider is also enhancing its state regulatory broadband efforts by naming Angie Dickison manager of State Government Affairs. She led statewide broadband offices in Minnesota and Wisconsin and specialized in securing broadband for underserved rural areas.
Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, TDS Telecom employs 3,100 people and 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 and hosted and managed services to approximately 6 million connections nationwide through its businesses: UScellular, TDS Telecom and OneNeck IT Solutions. Telephone and Data Systems, the parent company of TDS Telecom, has been named to several Forbes lists, including America’s Best Employers for Diversity, Best Large Employers and Best Employers for Women. TDS Telecom’s operating revenue for 2021 surpassed $1 billion.
www.broadbandgroup.com 702-405-7000
Key Products: Telecommunications master planning, network design and engineering, financial modeling, construction management
Summary: 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. In Huntsville, Alabama, TBGNS completed the Huntsville Utilities 966-mile, citywide, dark fiber network. In 2022, TBGNS will complete the City Utilities (Springfield, Missouri) 1,000-mile, citywide, dark fiber network. In summer 2022, TBG’s client Colorado Springs Utilities begins deploying its 2,000-plus-mile citywide fiber network, one of its largest fiber networks for a municipally owned utility. 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
Key Products: Gigabit internet access, video service
Summary: Ting, a business of Tucows – a global internet services leader –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 improving fiber infrastructure and connectivity, Ting has rapidly expanded its national footprint, working closely with local municipalities across the country. Today, the company proudly operates in 14 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 sports teams to installing free, public Wi-Fi hot spots, which were first implemented in April 2020 to ensure reliable internet access for everyone during the pandemic.
Recently, Ting announced it would be the initial anchor tenant on Colorado Springs Utilities’ new citywide fiber network. This network is expected to pass more than 200,000 addresses and mark Ting’s largest city. Ting recently announced its network build in Aurora, Colorado, and Alexandria, Virginia, which will be vital to improving local infrastructure and connectivity for residents and businesses. Elliot Noss, Ting’s CEO, has been a leader in the industry for many decades, and Jill Szuchmacher, the company’s chief strategy officer and executive vice president of networks and the former vice president of operations at Google, was brought on in 2020 to lead construction builds and guide the transition from coax to fiber. Tucows reported that net revenue in the first quarter of 2022 rose 14 percent to $81.1 million.
www.tvcinc.com 888-644-6075
Key Products: Broadband electronics, connectivity products, outside-plant hardware, test equipment, fabric innerduct, conduit technology
Summary: TVC Communications, a division of WESCO, is a value-added distributor that stocks and same-day ships FTTx products and facilitates planning, launching and deploying fiber networks in broadband and utility markets. TVC provides supply-chain solutions for operators, utilities and municipalities launching fiber networks, including turnkey project development, materials management, financial modeling, marketing for increased awareness/take rate and project launch team and support.
The company’s brands include MaxCell (www.maxcellinnerduct.com), the flexible fabric innerduct that allows increased cable density in a conduit while preserving space for future bandwidth expansion. MaxCell’s unique 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. 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.
www.united.net 800-779-2227
Key Products: Internet, digital TV and phone services
Summary: United Communications is recognized by BroadbandNow as having some of the fastest internet speeds available in the country, with bandwidths up to 1 gigabit delivered over its state-of-the-art fiber network. The company supplies high-speed internet, the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology, and digital TV and phone service for residential customers and enterprise-class businesses in Middle Tennessee. Recently, United Communications partnered with Duck River Electric to speed broadband deployment to its underserved areas. This collaborative effort is part of Project UNITE, the company’s initiative to deliver high-speed internet throughout the Middle Tennessee region and close the digital divide for communities that lack adequate internet. With two office locations, Chapel Hill and Franklin, United has a fiber network with more than 1,200 route miles of fiber backbone covering portions of Williamson, Rutherford, Marshall, Bedford, Franklin and Davidson counties.
www.ustc-corp.com 833-878-2267
Key Products: Telecom materials distribution and supply chain management solutions
Summary: USTC Corp is a one-stop shop for all materials, distribution and supply chain management solutions for telecommunications, HFC, FTTH and FTTx technologies. Founded in 2017 by CEO and chairman of the board, Cédric Varasteh, and headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, with expanded operations in Dallas, Texas, USTC Corp is a trusted partner for all technical and logistics expertise with extensive broadband fiber network experience. Last year, USTC Corp appointed CommScope veteran Tom McLaughlin as the new president to help the company expand across North America. The company acquired Walker and Associates, allowing it to further expand its footprint and customer base in the U.S. It also acquired Comstar Supply Inc., a national distributor of extraneous plant material and equipment for the broadband industry. With this transaction, USTC Corp now operates seven distribution locations in the U.S., with plans to significantly grow its service territory and customer base. With flexible delivery models, a plug-and-play approach and a modular set of value-added services, USTC Corp believes customers deserve customization. The company has more than 200 employees across three facilities in the U.S.
www.utopiafiber.com 801-613-3880
Key Products: Open-access network services
Summary: 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. 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 environs. Last fall, 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 last year’s 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. 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.
www.vantagepnt.com 605-995-1777
Key Products: Broadband engineering and consulting services, including feasibility studies, network design, help with grant applications, engineering and deployment
Summary: Based in Mitchell, South Dakota, employee-owned Vantage Point Solutions (VPS) provides engineering, legal and consulting 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 more than 400 employees and hundreds of clients across the country and internationally, VPS helps clients during nearly every step of broadband network development and operation, from concept to cutover. Services include feasibility studies, network design, engineering, and deployment; regulatory advice; financial and business analysis; municipal code review and development; and network maintenance and security. VPS is often called upon to help clients shape grant applications. VPS also provides analysis and recommendations for clients participating in the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program. Since VPS was founded in 2002, its clients have secured $2.4 billion in federal wireless spectrum as well as other related broadband loan and grant awards, including about $700 million in the past year. Aside from its headquarters, VPS has offices in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Charlotte, North Carolina; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; San Antonio, Texas; and Springfield, Illinois.
www.verizon.com; www.verizon.com/communities
Key Products: Internet, video and digital voice services
Summary: 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 200/200 Mbps internet with no data caps.
Earlier this 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. 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. In 2021, the Consumer segment’s revenues were $95.3 billion, an increase of 7.6 percent compared with the year ended December 31, 2020. A Dow 30 company with $133.6 billion in 2021 revenues, Verizon employed approximately 118,400 people at the end of 2021.
www.vermeer.com 641-628-3141; 888-837-6337
Key Products: Horizontal directional drilling equipment, utility and pedestrian trenchers and plows
Summary: 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. Tool swaps are quick, with two knockout dowel pins. Reaming directly from the transmitter housing is possible, and some tools no longer require starter rods and adapters. Several years ago, Vermeer expanded its line of vacuum excavators, including models for urban deployments. The RTX1250i2 ride-on tractor, widely used for microtrenching, was updated with easier tool changing, optional remote control and eco-friendly features.
Key Products: Software for visual operations, workforce management and service assurance
Summary: In June 2020, Mapcom Systems was acquired by VertiGIS, a geographic information systems solution provider and software developer. VertiGIS offers a visualization-based approach to FTTH operations and management. Its M4 Solutions Suite encompasses the FTTH life cycle, from PON or active network design and feasibility analysis through day-to-day plant/facility assignment and network maintenance and management. It maps both outside and inside plant at physical and logical levels. Providers use the M4 Solutions Suite to model their networks and service areas, integrating and correlating data from billing, accounting, GPS tracking, element management, network monitoring and vehicle-tracking applications in a visual interface. Using the suite with M4 Workforce and M4 Process Manager technology, staff can communicate via mobile devices to handle trouble tickets, service orders, field locations and permitting. Last year, Beacon Broadband and SEI Fiber began implementing VertiGIS’s M4 Solutions Suite, and Ritter Communications chose M4 as its broadband network system of record. In 2020, VertiGIS clients received more than $80 million in the second round of broadband funding from the USDA’s ReConnect Loan and Grant Program. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, with a staff of more than 100, VertiGIS has worked since 1971 with independents, cooperatives, fiber communities and campus telecommunications providers across the U.S., Canada, Central America, the Caribbean and Africa.
www.vetrofibermap.com 207-221-6627
Key Products: Fiber mapping software and service
Summary: 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 and connected digital hub for their physical network assets. VETRO enables better connectivity for all and delivers disruptive digital transformation for all communications service providers. This 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 multiyear investment to expand broadband infrastructure. VETRO’s Broadband Intelligence Platform will be the platform of record for broadband analytics and program management. VETRO is a privately owned company headquartered in Portland, Maine.
www.viavisolutions.com 408-404-3600
Key Products: Field and lab broadband test equipment, network monitoring systems, network performance monitoring, diagnostic solutions
Summary: VIAVI Solutions has served the communications industry for nearly 100 years. The company provides construction, installation, 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 continues to enhance its product line, introducing new or revised products several times a month.
Among the recent announcements are the Fusion JMEP 10 Smart SFP+, which enables monitoring of next-generation backhaul, broadband access, and business services; a new instrument programming tool (VIP Tool); and a new optical fiber meter for “right the first time” installs and automation to identify and certify DWDM or hybrid CWDM/DWDM networks. Last year, Openreach selected the VIAVI optical network monitoring system to accelerate its full fiber broadband deployment and enhance the quality of its build and experience for customers across the U.K. This year, the company announced the launch of FiberComplete PRO, a fiber test solution with a suite of capabilities that replaces six test instruments. For the fiscal year 2021, VIAVI reported net revenue of $1.2 billion and employed 3,600 employees, of whom about 1,000 were in R&D. VIAVI is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
www.ycominc.com 321-723-6025
Key Products: Underground and aerial construction, directional boring, fiber installation, and emergency maintenance and response
Summary: 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 operates as a super-regional provider of infrastructure services to the telecommunications, utility and power sectors. The company offers its customers a full suite of capabilities, including underground, aerial and emergency services. In 2022, Melbourne, Florida–based Y-COM was purchased by Grain Management, a private investment firm focused 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.
The company continues to grow its business, making three acquisitions over the past year – Atlantic Engineering Group (AEG), Borecomm and Fiber Optic Services (FOS) – further bolstering its capabilities. By acquiring AEG, Y-COM gains a company with a 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. 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 over 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 will give Y-COM more underground telecom construction expertise. As the third acquisition for Y-COM since Grain acquired the business last year, 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
Key Products: Gigabit home gateways and other customer-premises equipment, mesh Wi-Fi systems, Ethernet switches, security
Summary: Zyxel has been a trusted brand in IP technology and innovation for the past three decades specializing in DSL broadband gateways, LTE and home connectivity solutions for service providers. Zyxel is headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, with U.S. headquarters in Anaheim, California. It is comprised of knowledgeable engineers and executives who offer local services and support. Recent Zyxel solutions for FTTH and FTTN include an advanced security gateway for service message blocks, a high-performance gateway for ISPs, an enhanced Nebula cloud management solution, and the CBRS and multiband outdoor routers for fixed wireless access.
In 2021, Zyxel launched a web-managed multi-gigabit switch for homes and offices. The company also partnered with Wyrestorm, which has added Zyxel’s portfolio of networked, AV-enabled switches to its NetworkHD Series of AV over IP solutions. Zyxel has also been working with Affinegy, a hardware-independent, standards-based device management software recently acquired by NISC, to provide an automated, turnkey reporting service that broadband operators can use to satisfy Connect America Fund reporting requirements. Last year, Zyxel launched its portfolio of 10G PON ONT solutions. This product line includes three new products: a Wi-Fi 6 XGS-PON VoIP gateway ONT, an XGS-PON VoIP bridge ONT with 10G LAN, and the XGS-PON SFP+ ONT. Zyxel has been named a Common Vulnerability and Exposure Numbering Authority (CNA), joining an elite group of vendors recognized by the CVE Program and strengthening its security reporting moving forward. Orange County Register Top Workplaces awarded the company a Top Workplaces 2021 honor.
Read what others have to say, and share your own thoughts with the community.