Viewpoints
By: Gary Bolton, President and CEO, Fiber Broadband Association
Last year was a boom year for the fiber industry in nearly all significant measures.
Fiber broadband deployment set a new historical record in 2023, passing 9 million new homes at a rate of growth of 13 percent year-over-year. A total of 77.9 million U.S. homes were passed with fiber, with nearly 52 percent of all the nation’s unique homes and businesses passed.
This continued growth is building out critical infrastructure for generations to come, with more NTIA record-setting numbers anticipated in 2024 due to a multitude of factors. The $42.45 billion in NTIA BEAD funding has started to flow with a number of states receiving approvals for their initial BEAD proposals. We expect to see a steady stream of NTIA approvals and BEAD funding authorizations across the nation as we continue into 2024.
In addition to BEAD money, several factors are driving fiber deployment independent of federal support. The cable industry continues to deploy fiber in greenfield projects and in builds to match competitive fiber offerings, while telecom providers are expanding their fiber networks both in existing markets and in new ones. Private capital markets are also supporting fiber projects, viewing them as a low-risk, long-term return on investment, especially in areas where existing copper infrastructure has been overdue for replacement.
New innovations continue to drive the immediate and long-term need for more high-speed, low-latency, resilient, and reliable high-speed broadband that only fiber can provide. The AI boom of 2023 and the steady growth of AR/VR/XR applications are the products of the near-infinite capacity of fiber. In its infancy, quantum networks will be the key to enabling large-scale usage of quantum computing power and securing business and national security networks.
Deployment of multi-gig services enabled by XGS-PON emerged as the industry standard in 2023, while service providers are already evaluating and deploying 25G PON services in some markets, with Google Fiber being the most notable so far. There is a clear and unfettered growth path to 100G PON for local service delivery and core network speeds continue to increase in parallel with usage and demand.
The only hiccup within the larger fiber industry ecosystem was on the supply side. Suppliers built up excess inventory in 2023 to compensate for pandemic-related challenges, with fiber-related equipment inventory peaking during the year with an average of nine months of stock on hand. This inventory was drawn down in the second half of 2023 with the FBA estimating that fiber-related inventory will normalize during the first half of 2024.
Looking forward, the FBA has five critical priorities for 2024:
- Fiber is critical infrastructure: Broadband deployed to unserved and underserved areas should not just meet minimum standards or provide “good enough” solutions that need recapitalization every three to five years. We’ve seen it with DSL in the past and are seeing it now with fixed wireless and satellite solutions. Fiber provides a long-lasting multi-generational infrastructure that is much more resilient and future-proof than any other media in operation or envisioned.
- Accelerating deployment is vital: Anything that slows down deployment will result in driving up costs and lower efficiencies. Streamlining permitting and utility locates is paramount in avoiding and reducing delays. In addition, supply chains must continue to be properly and proactively managed to prevent disruptions.
- Protect our nation’s critical broadband infrastructure: Last year, FBA completed its Trusted Fiber 1.0 white paper and is now working with policymakers to promote the concepts playing a key role in protecting the nation’s vital communication networks.
- Workforce development: Last year, the FBA developed a Broadband Workforce Development Guidebook that was distributed to all state broadband offices and workforce development offices across the nation. The FBA continues to roll out its Optical Telecom Installer Certification (OpTIC Path™) to community colleges and learning institutions across the nation.
- Adoption and affordability: Simply passing homes with fiber is not enough. The FBA must ensure that everyone is able to participate on an equal level in our digital future and work to close the digital divide by supporting affordable broadband options and programs to deliver devices to those in need, as well as training and digital navigators for populations with continued challenges.
The payoffs and return on investment for fiber broadband networks are multifold and multigenerational. The FBA continues to document fiber success stories, such as Chattanooga EPB’s investment yielding over a billion dollars in economic benefits over the past decade.
Fiber is enabling 5G to grow and thrive, as well as improving health care and patient outcomes, creating jobs, and enlarging the local tax base for communities across the country, providing equitable access to education, improving energy delivery, and reducing carbon emissions. I’m looking forward to seeing what new innovations and growth fiber brings to 2024 and beyond.
