Broadband expansion is a hot topic, and several providers have announced recent projects that will extend the reach of fiber for high-speed connectivity.
Comcast has plans for a $22 million service extension in Utah with no public funds involved, while Windstream is leveraging Federal Communications Commission funding awards in addition to its own investment.
Comcast’s project will put $22 million in over the next four years to extend its connectivity services to more than 18,000 homes and businesses in Eagle Mountain, Utah. Comcast also said recently that it plans to expand its network to Silverton, Oregon and offer access to another 5,000 people. That is a $10.6 million project and will ultimately enable gig-speed internet for residential customers as well as speeds up to 10 Gbps for commercial customers.
“We are committed to supporting Utah’s growth plans by building infrastructure and bringing high-speed broadband to meet the state’s next-generation capacity needs,” said Bryan Thomas, vice president of network engineering for the Comcast Mountain West Region. “Our network expansion in Eagle Mountain is the latest example of the significant investments we’ve already made in the state. Since 2019, we’ve invested $881 million in technology and infrastructure capital expenditures, taxes and fees, employee wages and benefits, and charitable giving.”
Windstream, meanwhile, said on Monday that it has received all of its authorizations for awards from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The company will receive $523 million over 10 years to support the extension of its Kinetic fiber-to-the-home service to approximately 193,000 locations in 18 states. Windstream said that it will bring gig-speed internet to some of its most rural customers and has announced public-private partnerships in six states already that focus on subsidized rural fiber expansion.
Windstream said that it has already begun construction in 16 of the 18 states where it received RDOF support. Separately, the company said, it also has started a $2 billion initiative of its down investment to bring fiber and gigabit-speed services to more than 2 million homes and businesses where it sees an “economically feasible business case.”
In addition, AT&T recently said that it is increasing availabilty of its multi-gig fiber service, which offers 2-gig and 5-gig service tiers. It first launched that service in January and now offers it to more than 7 million customer locations across 21 states. AT&T says it will “continue densifying multi-gig-capable technology across our footprint throughout 2022”, with new metro areas in Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio being added before the end of this year. and as it seeks to cover 30 million customer locations by the end of 2025.
AT&T also emphasized the role of fiber connectivity in its network strategy at its recent investor day. The operator plans to double its fiber footprint to 30+ million locations and add between 3.5-4 million customer locations annually for the next few years. AT&T has said that by 2025, it expects that 75% of its network footprint will be served via fiber and 5G.
