FTTH Top 100
Presenting the third slate of companies to be included in our four-part series featuring the FTTH Top 100 in 2024.
Last week, Broadband Communities continued with Part 2 of our four-part series naming the FTTH Top 100 of 2024.
Broadband Communities now presents companies 51 to 75 of our Top 100 list, ranked in no particular order. The list features organizations that have either deployed networks that have innovative business plans, intended to transform local economies or improve quality of life, or those that have introduced innovative technologies with game-changing potential, even if they have not yet been commercially deployed.
Companies that have supplied critical hardware, software, or services to deployers, and companies that provided critical conditions for fiber builds, such as advocacy or demand aggregation, have also been considered.
Here are the next 25 companies to be included in the Broadband Communities FTTH Top 100 in 2024.
51.) Ziply Fiber
Ziply Fiber began the year with a win, announcing that the company’s partnership with Sabey Data Centers has enabled them to offer their network to enterprise customers in the greater Puget Sound region. Several months later, the Kirkland, Washington-based ISP announced a partnership with Island County. The partnership allowed Ziply to provide FTTH construction to more than 100 homes and businesses on the north end of Washington’s Camano Island. Later that month, Ziply celebrated expansions to two Montana cities: Billings and Great Falls. Those communities represented the first two cities of at least five in the state with brand new fiber infrastructure being built by Ziply Fiber.
52.) Newark Fiber
This spring, Newark Fiber highlighted the need for more connectivity in New Jersey’s largest city. According to Newark Fiber, almost one in five Newark households did not have an internet subscription, as of 2022. This year, in partnership with the City of Newark and Andrena, Newark Fiber is hoping to change that statistic. Earlier this year, Newark Fiber announced that residents they connect will be able to purchase internet service for $20 per month. Newark Fiber described the rate as “a fraction of the average market rate of $75 per month or more, saving families nearly $700 a year.” The affordable housing developments to be connected by Newark Fiber will span across five wards in Newark, with discounted prices for many of the city’s low-income residents, which became all the more important following the lapse of the Affordable Connectivity Program in May.
53.) Comporium
Comporium has been highly active in South Carolina, both working to expand their footprint and to forge partnerships with organizations like the York Electric Cooperative in York County, South Carolina. The privately held communications company, based in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has made successful plays for American Rescue Plan Act and Rural Broadband grants, becoming a major part of efforts to bridge the digital divide in South Carolina. The firm has matched public investment with their own private funds, investing millions for instance to connect rural locations in South Carolina’s Lancaster County. Comporium has become a trusted partner in South Carolina’s aggressive broadband buildout.
54.) eX2
An eX² Technology network under construction in Navajo County, Arizona will provide broadband capacity to support telehealth services, educational demands, and municipal needs, the company announced back in April. The open-access, dark fiber network, will expand connectivity in one of the most rural corners of Arizona. As part of the company’s partnership with the Navajo County Board of Supervisors, eX² (a Vivacity company) has agreed to maintain the network for 20 years upon its completion. The Omaha-based company’s leadership expects the network will serve as an engine of economic growth in the region and plans completion on the middle-mile network’s construction by 2025.
55.) ALLO Fiber
Last month, ALLO Fiber announced the beginning of construction on a citywide network in Joplin, Missouri. According to published reports, the network build will cost ALLO approximately $60 million. The Nebraska-based ISP has entered into a partnership with Joplin on the project and has pledged to spend $4 million to ensure the network can withstand disasters. Notably, Joplin was the site of the 2011 Joplin tornado, one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history. Joplin’s mayor, Keenan Cortez, underscored the importance of ALLO’s investment in Joplin. He said the investment enhances Joplin and “will help drive economic development, improve interactive learning in our schools and higher education institutions, and provide new options for our remote workers.”
Intrepid Fiber, based in Bloomfield, Colorado, has been making major expansions to their footprint in both Colorado and Minnesota. According to Intrepid Fiber, construction began back in March on a network expansion that will connect over 27,000 households and businesses in the communities of Louisville and Lafayette, located in southeastern Boulder County, and Westminster, located in Adams and Jefferson counties. Also in March, Intrepid Fiber announced their construction in Minnetonka was part of an effort to extend fiber to over 160,000 locations across Minnesota. Most recently, the company announced the securement of $290 million in debt financing to support continued deployment to homes and businesses in both states.
57.) Twin Valley
Kansas based Twin Valley, along with ISG Technology, acquired in 2020, has been described as the largest independently owned broadband and communications company in Kansas. Earlier this year, Twin Valley began work on a network in Mulvane, the company’s first ‘8 Gigabit City.’ On the project, Twin Valley used a local contractor, Wichita Utilities. In the months since, Twin Valley has grown their list of 8 Gigabit cities across Kansas, recently naming Abilene and Solomon as the latest communities to gain the designation. Additional expansions are proposed in Haysville, and in July the firm celebrated completion of network expansion efforts in Minneapolis, Kansas. The company also celebrated their CEO, Ben Foster, being named as the secretary and treasurer of the NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, proving a culture of commitment to industry advancement within Twin Valley’s leadership team.
58.) TruVista
TruVista, based in South Carolina, has made efforts to both bridge the digital divide and enhance efficiency over the past year. In June, TruVista announced their partnership with the Fairfield County School District. The partnership included TruVista’s contribution of a state-of-the-art technology center at a planned community for teachers known as “The Village in Winnsboro, a Community of Fairfield Educators.” The company is active in the community, sponsoring car shows, and even celebrated the use of CHR Solutions’ Omnia360 platform after migrated over 10,000 accounts and provided “significant improvements in workflow, business processes, and scheduling” at PlantTel, a Georgia-based communications company previously acquired by TruVista.
59.) Ubiquity
Featured on this year’s Top 100 list in 2024 is Ubiquity, a provider with operations in states like California, Arizona, Texas, Nebraska, and Iowa. Ubiquity has been a driver behind the trend of future-proof builds, and prides themselves on a forward-thinking approach that anticipates emerging technologies. Their last-mile fiber solutions, geared towards property owners and top-tier ISP tenants, offers ‘game changing’ technologies like dual fiber jack solutions, which Ubiquity claims will revolutionize the market “by enabling multiple internet service providers to coexist within a property.”
60.) GFiber
GFiber has become a significant player in the broadband market. The company boasts “Fiber Cities” either existing or planned in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Over the past year, GFiber has made one expansion announcement after another, proving GFiber is here for the long haul. GFiber was also among the first in the industry to announce the launch of ‘nutrition labels’ for residential 1 Gig, 2 Gig, 5 Gig, and 8 Gig products, shortly after the FCC announced requirements for labeling to begin appearing on equipment.
61.) SiFi Networks
California-based SiFi Networks, which builds and operates both open-access networks and ‘smart city networks’ across the U.S., has been busy increasing their footprint in California, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. Through a partnership with T-Mobile Fiber, SiFi Networks has announced planned expansions to the California cities of Palmdale and Oceanside, along with cities beyond California’s borders, like Farmington, Michigan, Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Rockford, Illinois. The partnership also has plans for further announced expansions, according to a recent announcement from the firm.
62.) GoNetspeed
GoNetspeed, a fiber provider that serves nine states from New England to the Southeast, this year announced completed projects in two Maine communities: Portland and Thomaston. The momentum follows successful builds in other communities, like Camden, Maine, and Lockport, New York. The Alabama-based ISP has also embarked on ambitious designs in Connecticut’s market, and earlier this year announced a $6.6 million private investment that will connect well over 10,000 locations in a Connecticut community in Manchester. GoNetspeed continues to grow their footprint at a steady pace in the Northeast, earning them a place on this year’s FTTH Top 100.
63.) Metronet
Metronet recently made headlines after T-Mobile and KKR, a global investment firm, announced they had entered into a joint venture to acquire Metronet. It’s no surprise. Metronet, an Indiana-based service provider, has been busy across the country with network builds in places like Killeen, Texas, which is nearby Fort Hood, and Fayetteville, North Carolina. A majority of Fayetteville residents, one of the larger cities in North Carolina, have access to Metronet’s services, and the company has built 170 miles of fiber-optic network throughout the city. In total, Metronet claims to provide multi-gigabit internet service to 300 communities across 17 states.
64.) T-Mobile
With availability in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Wisconsin, there is no denying that T-Mobile Fiber has earned a place in the FTTH Top 100 for 2024. Recently, T-Mobile Fiber has made waves across the industry by entering into a partnership with open-access provider SiFi Networks, and by announcing they’ve entered into a joint venture with investment firm KRR to acquire Metronet. T-Mobile Fiber is looking to expand their broadband footprint, in a big way, and has used 2024 to set the stage for rapid growth.
65.) Vexus Fiber
Providing for customers in the sunbelt states, Vexus Fiber has quietly expanded their footprint across the region in recent months. Neighborhoods in Mission, and Denison, in Texas, along with residents of Pampa, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico are among the latest to gain access to Vexus’ service offerings. In January, Amarillo, Texas was named the newest ‘Certified Gigabit City’ by Vexus Fiber, which the provider announced as representing a “major milestone” for both them and the city. In Amarillo alone, Vexus revealed they has invested $64.5 million in the city and deployed more than 396 miles of fiber to provide access to the city’s nearly 75,000 residents.
Glo Fiber and their parent company, Shentel, are key players in the broadband market and have only continued to expand in 2024. Glo Fiber, which utilizes a 9,300-mile network owned and operated by Shentel, has been hard at work on expansion projects in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. In Pennsylvania, the company is working on a network expansion in Springettesbury Township, which will bring a future-proof fiber-optic network to over 7,500 homes and businesses. In Ohio, an additional 40,000 homes and businesses will have access to Glo Fiber’s fiber-optic network when network construction is completed. According to Glo Fiber’s COO in April, Glo Fiber’s network passes over a quarter million different locations in Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland with a network that spans over 15,000 miles.
67.) Conexon Connect
In a short period of time, since Conexon Connect completed their first electric cooperative network built in partnership with Southern Rivers Energy in 2023, the company has expanded rapidly. This month, Conexon Connect announced the completion of the firm’s third electric cooperative FTTH network in Georgia. According to Conexon Connect, the company is managing 20 FTTH projects across seven states, which are set to reach nearly 400,000 rural homes and businesses upon completion. Additional projects, in partnership with Middle Georgia EMC, were also completed this year – and ahead of schedule to, according to the ISP.
68.) Mediacom
Mediacom, formally the Mediacom Communications Corporation, is the fifth largest cable operator in the United States and delivers fiber to over 1.4 million households across the company’s 22 state footprint. Since last year’s Top 100 list, Mediacom has rolled out its 10G Platform in West Des Moines, Iowa and has completed network expansions in Iowa and underserved locations in Minnesota. The company also announced the launch of Mediacom Mobile in July, developed in partnership with Reach, a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) which can work with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
Kinetic, a brand operated by Windstream, has been committed to expanding their footprint. In May, backed by a $39 million investment, Kinetic announced plans to construct over 800 miles of fiber near the Florida-Georgia line to provide first-time access to over 16,000 locations in Georgia’s Lowndes County. Over the past year the company also worked on a $20.5 million project to expand a fiber network to more than 7,300 locations in rural Union County, Georgia. Last year, Windstream entered a partnership with Sterlite Technologies Limited, a company that now produces fiber-optic cabling in South Carolina. The partnership only enhanced Windstream’s ability to handle ambitious fiber builds, like one Raleigh to Jacksonville, and another project with a route stretching from New York City to Montreal in Canada.
70.) GCI
GCI is the leader of a $100 million endeavor to connect some of the most remote U.S. communities with the Aleutian Islands Fiber Project. This year, work continued on the project, with construction leveraging an 800-mile-long subsea fiber-optic backbone and reaching communities like Larson Bay. To complete the project, GCI has brought cultural monitors on board. The first phase of the project has a price tag of $58 million. Funding sources for Phase I include a $25 million grant from the USDA ReConnect Program and $33 million in capital from GCI. Meanwhile, Phase II, to be funded with a $29.3 million NTIA grant, will extend fiber to another six communities.
71.) Lumos
Lumos, operating across Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, provides services to over 300,000 homes and businesses in the area, according to a summary of the company’s operations. The company has been competitive in the grant process in South Carolina, where they acquired over $1.2 million from South Carolina’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Capital Project Fund Grant Program to reach nearly 700 homes and small businesses that lack essential broadband internet access in Spartanburg County. In that project alone, Lumos invested over $800,000.
72.) Wisper Internet
Wisper Internet, a rural internet service provider that serves residents in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, and Illinois, closed out 2023 by announcing substantial progress with efforts to deploy Tarana’s ngFWA technology to provide internet service to rural and underserved communities throughout 9,500 square miles in the Midwest. Wisper first adopted the technology in 2021 and has since ramped deployment. To close out 2023, Wisper delivered service from 310 Tarana-equipped towers and had plans to add 180 towers to that total in 2024.
73.) C Spire
This year in May, Mississippi-based C Spire launched C Spire Passport, a connectivity solution that can deploy, optimize and maintain Cisco devices on networks at scale, according to the company’s announcement at the time. The platform, which uses Cisco Identity Service Engine (ISE) and Catalyst SD-WAN Manager through a web portal, allows field technicians to remotely view and manage network devices. The development is meant to supports local data processing by isolating services into dedicated virtual networks and was considered a “best in class” solution by the company at the time, helping C Spire to increase the value provided to customers and manage evolving business needs.
74.) Ciena
Networking systems, services, and software company Ciena has had a big year so far in 2024. Ciena’s solutions and products, like Ciena’s uOLT pluggables, have been called game changers by ISPs like Canada-based Moby. In June, the Alabama Fiber Network selected Ciena as its optical networking vendor for a converged middle-mile network. According to Ciena, the network will leverages Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Nano (WL5n) 400G Coherent Pluggable Transceivers and 6500 Reconfigurable Line System (RLS). Ciena’s tech was also a big factor in Seimitsu’s recent expansions around Savannah, where the provider utilized Ciena’s XGS-PON solution. Ciena continues to lead the way
75.) Bark
Bark, a social-media monitoring software, has been integrated into the Calix platform as part of an effort to add value to the service packages offered by small ISPs. The software, which has been integrated into ALLO Fiber’s service offerings, can identify language that indicates cyber bullying and suicidal ideation. Matt Collins, the Chief Commercial Operations Officer at Calix, businesses and consumers alike are going to look at the value that programs like Bark offer and gravitate towards them. In July, he told Broadband Communities that Calix has been very pleased with the results of Bark thus far, and suggested the momentum behind it is just starting.
Check back next weekend for the final installment of the 2024 Broadband Communities FTTH Top 100.
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