Fiber Forward - Q1 2022

PHARR, TEXAS

An epic journey from “worst connected city” to deploying its own fiber broadband

CLEAR LEADERSHIP

FBA’s 2022 Board of Directors Chair Kevin Morgan

BROADBAND FUNDING PLAY BY PLAY

FBA & NTCA release the highly-anticipated Broadband Infrastructure Playbook

Celebrating Gene Scott’s Legacy, General Manager of Greenlight Community Broadband and Chairman of FBA’s Education Subcommittee – a man that moved fiber forward.

Gary Bolton, FBA President & CEO

Dear FBA Members,

We entered 2022 well prepared to help our industry leverage the historic funding that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act delivers. We look forward to helping our members close the Digital Equity Gap and fully realize fiber broadband’s full potential as a key driver for economic growth, community development and personal opportunity.

Our top priority for 2022 is to ensure that the market fully appreciates the possibilities created with fiber broadband and any other choice is a decision to leave communities and people behind. We continue to focus on our advocacy at NTIA, the FCC, on Capitol Hill and with the Administration. Further, we are expanding our advocacy outreach to the state and local level, as the BEAD broadband infrastructure grants will be administered and distributed at the state level. As outlined in this issue’s article, “Drawing a BEAD on Funding with the Broadband Infrastructure Playbook,” FBA has developed a Broadband Infrastructure Playbook to provide governors, state broadband offices, state legislators, public officials and service providers best practices on state broadband programs and guidance for assuring that any fiber broadband investment maximizes ROI, creates unparallel opportunity and has the ability to deliver the capacity required to support the way people want to live, work and play today and far into the future.

Our industry’s success will also need the availability of skilled fiber optic technicians. I’m excited to announce that FBA has completed the development of our intensive OpTIC™ fiber optic technician training program and we entered our initial pilots in March, in advance of our nationwide launch later this year at community colleges, veterans training programs and private training institutions in every state across the nation. More details on this exciting program can be found in the “FBA OpTIC Launch Opens Workforce Options” article in this issue.

Further, FBA launched a number of new initiatives and working groups to accelerate the availability of fiber broadband networks. More information about new committees, work groups and areas of focus can be found in this issue, as well and an update on progress and programs for our existing committees, workgroups and members.

As we enter the next phase of our industry’s growth, where we move from early adopters to mainstream-and Main Street--the Fiber Broadband Association has announced its Regional Fiber Connect workshops which begin in Baton Rouge, La., on March 23rd, followed by Providence, R.I., on April 19th and at the pre-conference workshop in Nashville on June 12th at Fiber Connect 2022. After our annual conference, we will continue our regional events in Denver, Colo., in August and in Columbus, Ohio in November.

In this issue of the magazine, Editor-in-Chief Doug Mohney examines some of the critical issues, opportunities and challenges our industry faces including supply chain, rights-of-way management, the fiber opportunity with fixed wireless and 5G, as well as pays tribute to Gene Scott, one of our own whose impact on his community and on the FBA will be felt for decades to come.

This is an exciting time for the fiber industry, as the Fiber Broadband Association continues to keep the pedal to the metal on several critical fronts that will help accelerate our mission and realize our vision in the coming years and we work to drive Fiber Forward

Sincerely,

REDUCE THE RISK

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FBA PRESIDENT & CEO

Gary Bolton

PUBLISHER

Connect2 Communications, Inc.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Doug Mohney

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Trish Ehlers

FBA VP of Membership, Industry Affairs & Operations

Deborah Kish

FBA VP of Research & Marketing

Edna Preuss

FBA LATAM Chapter Director of Industry Affairs & Member Services

Jerry Golden

3-GIS Co-Founder and EVP

Ashlee Hornbuckle

3-GIS Product Marketing Manager

Barak Harlan

CHR Solutions Sr. Systems Engineer

Jake Webb

CHR Solutions GIS Manager

Stephen Smith

Pioneer Utility Resources VP of Broadband Strategies & Special Projects

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR

Lucy Green

DESIGNER

Rick Skippon

June 12 - 15, 2022

Nashville, TN

Letter from the President & CEO

Opportunities and Challenges in 2022: An Interview with FBA Board Chairman

Kevin Morgan

Gene Scott – In Memoriam

Find Your Fiber Footing with FBA Committees

FBA Public Policy Committee

Drawing a BEAD on Funding with the Broadband Infrastructure Playbook

Fiber Broadband’s Bright Future

Wireless is Fiber

The Soft Arts of Deploying and Protecting Fiber

Fiber Creates Jobs

Springfield Leases Dark Fiber for Lumen Broadband Delivery

Pharr, Texas: A Bad Water Bill to City Fiber

Fiber to the Farm

Fiber Connect 2022: More People, More Content, More Focused

FBA Premier Member Meeting Photo Gallery

FBA OpTIC™ Launch Opens Workforce Options

LATAM Chapter Develops New Training and Certification Program

Fiber Network Supply Chain Myths and Facts

Provider Funds High Cost of Rural Fiber Build by Thinking Outside the Box GIS

Opportunities and Challenges in 2022

An interview with FBA Board Chairman Kevin Morgan

By Doug Mohney

Kevin Morgan was elected to be the new FBA Chair of the Board for a one-year term starting on January 1, 2022. Morgan, Chief Marketing Officer at Clearfield, Inc., previously served as Board Chair in 2019 and 2015 and has been on FBA’s Board since 2011.

The Fiber Broadband Association is celebrating its 21st anniversary this year with continued growth and a historic opportunity to permanently close the digital divide over the next five years with federal, state and private funding investing in broadband for all. Fiber Forward sat down with Morgan in late January to discuss where the fiber industry is at and where he sees it going.

Let’s start with the basics. How do you see the state of the fiber broadband industry today?

We are at a really fortunate time in our industry, it’s one of those moments where we need all hands-on deck--the suppliers, construction, contractors, cities, the governments all coming together to support fiber-based broadband. For years, fiber technology has been assessed as the best technology. Now we’re at the point where fiber is not only the best, but the preferred method for connecting broadband services.

What goals do you have for FBA in the year ahead?

The fiber broadband industry and the Fiber Broadband Association are leading the way to close the digital equity gap, with 2022 the year we’re all in concert deploying much more fiber to homes, businesses, end-points like cell towers and 5G microcells, as well as middle-mile/xhaul because of the things I mentioned earlier. That’s a big step forward in accelerating fiber-based broadband deployments to close the digital equity gap.

When we think about digital equity, everybody needs access to high-speed broadband: individuals, companies, communities. Everyone must have access to be able to fully function and participate in the economy. It has societal benefits, it has personal benefits, it impacts democracy.

Fixed wireless and 5G get a lot of media attention. What can FBA do to highlight the role of fiber in enabling these technologies?

For 5G to work, you must have fiber infrastructure. To take full advantage of 5G technology which is enhanced mobile broadband now and expanding into ultra-reliable low latency communications, enabling massive machine-to-machine communications and

FBA President & CEO Gary Bolton welcomes Morgan to the stage at Fiber Connect 2021.

Source: FBA

industrial IoT, you need fiber. It’s the only solution that provides the speeds and low latency necessary for 5G to fully deliver on its promises.

Fixed wireless access gets a lot of headlines and rightly so. It’s a good option for some areas on the outer edge, typically small communities that have no other options possible. You’re taking the copper or fiber up to a certain point and carrying everything else over the airwaves. A hybrid solution using fiber with last-mile wireless can work. But is that a long-term solution that’s best for the consumers? No.

Over time, hybrid solutions will ultimately migrate to a full fiber network. If you look at the history of Wireless Internet Service Providers, they follow a business model to start out offering wireless service to create a viable business, then they migrate into all-fiber networks with less [operational expense] and substantially more broadband capacity. They don’t have to go back and keep changing out terminals and devices and worrying about the next wave of frequencies. Once you get to that point, life is pretty good.

How is FBA going to engage with states to make sure they’ve got the mechanisms they need to move forward on their broadband projects?

One thing the Fiber Broadband Association is doing, in concert with other associations, is creating a playbook we will get out to the state government broadband offices. Previously only about thirty of 50 states had a state broadband office that will advise the governors and state legislatures on broadband matters, the remaining states have state agencies or a broadband taskforce to administer state broadband grants. With the NTIA broadband infrastructure funding, all states are in the process of setting up broadband offices in preparation for this historic investment. It’s important we get to the governors of the states to let them know the consequences of making decisions to use that [broadband] money.

There are always consequences in the technology that’s chosen for broadband. We’re trying to bring those factors to the forefront and make sure state decision-makers understand the trades between fiber and other technologies since fiber is the best long-term, future-proof investment.

What are the great challenges for FBA in 2022 and how will it meet them?

Our challenge is to be the voice of the fiber industry and maintain that voice. We have that today and we’re expanding our membership to include more service providers. One of our tasks is going to be providing knowledge and guidance for new providers. There’s a lot of them, whether it’s a municipality, co-op, electric utility, or an incumbent service provider upgrading to fiber.

FBA is a resource, providing best-in-class knowledge for how providers can set up a fiber network and best operating practices once they turn it on. We have a fiber starter toolkit available today. We’re going to have regional events for communities to come in and listen and hear about best practices, enabling them to think about planning, access to funding, architectures, contracting, all those kinds of things. Giving people the information that is really in need as we go everywhere now, to deploy fiber to the unserved and underserved market.

Is the cable industry moving from enemies to frenemies or how does that work since the cable industry realizes it needs fiber?

The first major appearance of cable providers engaging with Fiber Broadband Association came in our conference in the 2013-2014 timeframe. Fiber started getting on the radar as a viable alternative technology. The cable industry has done well to advance the DOCSIS platform over the years but now they are in a position where DOCSIS 4.0, the next big leap, continues to have growing pains.

Fiber is being rolled out in such a large way by service providers, starting to compete with cable operators in their territories. When you compare the costs and benefits of DOCSIS 3.1 over fiber to the home, fiber’s potential is much greater and much more attractive, easier to price and configure. The larger cable MSOs will start to migrate in in a big way over the next five years because fiber provides a simpler, easier-to-maintain network than legacy RF solutions.

Two to three years ago some Tier 2, Tier 3 cable MSOs made the decision to build all-fiber networks and just abandon cable splits and things like that. It’s easier to go all-fiber on a smaller regional scale and in greenfield expansions.

For a national network. It’s a much bigger challenge. You’ll first see pockets of fiber in competitive markets to defend against service providers rolling out all-fiber networks. At the end of the day, whoever gets the fiber network there faster first will own the customer. Once customers are on fiber services, you’re not going to get them off.

What other areas are FBA working on?

It’s important to note the importance of diversity and inclusion and promoting new leaders in the space, such as our Women in Fiber initiative.

We’re forming some internal working groups to discuss the in-home experience. The whole home fiber experience is different than a non-fiber based home experience. You’ll see some meaningful movement by the association in that direction, at our [Fiber Connect] conference or in other papers we publish. The in-home experience is going to be a big deal.

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Gene Scott In Memoriam

By Doug Mohney

Dear friend and long-time community broadband advocate Gene Scott passed away on February 12, 2022. Gene designed and oversaw the construction of the Greenlight Community Broadband fiber network in Wilson, North Carolina and was Chairman of the Fiber Broadband Association’s Education Subcommittee. As Chairman, he was instrumental in the development of FBA’s new OpTIC™ fiber optic technician training program.

“Broadband is about people and Gene was one of the very best,” said Gary Bolton, President and CEO, FBA. “He has made a major positive impact for the communities of Wilson and the Fiber Broadband Association through his contributions and efforts on the Education subcommittee and our organization at large. Gene was a stellar volunteer, community leader and broadband champion and so much more, exemplifying all the best qualities of what we should strive for as a person.”

Scott grew up in Wilson and went to college at East Carolina University, receiving a degree in Industrial Technology. He had a 28-year career with Carolina Telephone (part of Lumen Technologies today) and a second 15-year career with the City of Wilson as General Manager of Outside Plant.

“Gene was such a kind, gracious and decent man. He’s the kind of person from Eastern NC that endeared me to this area,” said Mark Boxer, board member and FBA liaison to the Education subcommittee. “He was very innovative, open to new ideas, and very determined, as sometimes required when launching a municipally-based fiber network.”

Scott was recruited by the city to oversee the design and construction of Greenlight Community Broadband’s network in 2006. It was the first community-owned fiberto-the-home (FTTH) gigabit project in North Carolina and one of the pioneers in the nation.

“Greenlight was very special to Gene,” said Greenlight Community Broadband General Manager Will Aycock. “He had the opportunity to come into his hometown and build it the way it needed to be built for the long-term benefit of the community. Gene would often say he was continually able to pull the rabbit out of the hat, although sometimes the ears got pretty long. At every turn, with every challenge, he always managed to find the solution for us to keep growing and move forward. He laid the foundation

and it’s our responsibility to carry forward his work.”

Under Scott’s leadership and acumen, Greenlight passed every home in the 50,000-person community in 18 months once construction began, a significant feat when home fiber and gigabit speeds were in their formative years. But Scott’s contributions went beyond network design and project management.

“Gene was a visionary and an engineer, someone who liked to build foundational structures needed to support the future, a future that offered a better quality of life for everyone,” said Catharine Rice, Project Manager at Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC). “This was not just a fiber network he was building, but a futureproofed infrastructure that would bring its customers healthcare, work and education opportunities and economic development in the rural communities it touched comparable to urban opportunities.”

Scott didn’t stop at building physical infrastructure but was actively engaged in building workforce training infrastructure as well. He worked with Wilson Community College to create an affordable fiber technician training course in 2019, charting the way for today’s FBA OpTIC™ optical telecom installation certification course.

“Gene was a big part of the contents of OpTIC™,” said Elizabeth Lentz, eLearning specialist at Corning who worked with Scott on the FBA Education subcommittee. “He was able to bring resources to the program the rest of us didn’t have. He knows everybody. If you had a question, he would say ‘I know somebody who can answer that for us.’”

Scott’s work in workforce development will live on through the FBA OpTIC™ training course, which will first launch in his hometown at Wilson Community College and will serve future technicians for years to come in several locations across the country.

The Fiber Broadband Association will honor Gene and his contributions to the industry at Fiber Connect 2022 and through other actions to be announced at a later date. Gene influenced and helped shape programs that changed people’s lives in meaningful ways, and many will have the opportunity to benefit from his life’s work going forward. He will be deeply missed by his friends at the Fiber Broadband Association.

Find Your Fiber Footing with FBA Committees

By Doug Mohney

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) is more than the industry’s top advocate. To keep up with the needs of this rapidly growing and evolving industry, the FBA leverages the collective efforts of its members through the work of its committees and working groups. The structure has something for everyone, and anyone that wants to network, learn, contribute, and grow.

The work the FBA has completed over the past 20 years wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of the organization’s existing committees and working groups. Focused on topics and issues facing our industry, these member groups are an excellent mechanism to learn more about our industry, contribute to the organization and industry’s progress and stand out as a contributor and industry leader.

FBA’s committees focus on everything from research, training, diversity, and best practices to policy and emerging industries. They are having an impact that is being felt across the industry. For instance, the Public Policy Committee played an instrumental role in helping legislators craft the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Five new working groups and round tables were formed recently within the FBA. These include the In-Home Experience, Trusted Fiber, Supply Chain, and Sustainability/Decarbonizing the Fiber Industry working groups and the Public Utilities round table.

In-Home Experience

The In-Home Experience Working Group, chaired by Doug Blue of Nokia, and is focused on improving the inhome experience for end users by defining specifications for architects, home builders, consumer and software application developers to ensure maximum benefit from the Gigabit FTTH experience.

Trusted Fiber

As security continues to be a primary concern for our industry and the companies that leverage the broadband we deliver at work and home, the Trusted Fiber working group is working to establish clear parameters for what constitutes trusted fiber. The Trusted Fiber working group, chaired by Patrick Jacobi

of Prysmian, consists of the domestic suppliers of fiber optic cable and is focused on establishing metrics and standards for the ethical production, distribution, and pricing of fiber by trusted suppliers. It was clear from that beginning that this was a topic the team was passionate about as the dialogue and collaboration has been positive. Initial categories where we have identified the need to complete a thorough review include the following: National Security, Authentication/ Counterfeit, Entity Certifications/Supply History, Governance, Environmental/Sustainability, Labor/Worker Rights and Safety, Dumping/Subsidies, and Quality/ Long-term Performance.

Supply Chain

One of the biggest challenges the industry faces is related to the supply chain. The FBA recently created the Supply Chain working group, chaired by Scott Jackson of Graybar, tasked with developing a detailed map of the fiber industry supply chain so that the FBA can educate its members and help focus on the specific bottlenecks that are impacting fiber deployment. Given the strategic importance of ensuring supply chain issues do not derail the fiber deployment train, the work this committee has undertaken is of critical importance to the FBA, its members, and the industry.

Brendan O’Boyle from Performed Line Products leads a group discussion at the December 2021 PremierMember Meeting on labor challenges for fiber broadband industry. Source: Deborah Kish

Sustainability/Decarbonizing the Fiber Industry

Connecting everyone, everywhere to fiber is FBA’s mission but it also states the importance of ensuring our industry reduces its impact on the planet. Driven by continued interest from the FBA’s members, a new Sustainability/Decarbonizing the Fiber Industry Working group has formed to look at ways the industry can establishing “net zero” targets for fiber providers by encouraging industry recycling, reduction of truck rolls, reducing energy consumption, using renewable energy, and a range of ESG initiatives to obtain greater operational efficiencies. IQGEO, Corning, OFS, Calix, Nokia and ADTRAN are among the initial companies that plan to participate, and if reducing the industry’s carbon footprint is of interest to you and your company, please inquire about involvement.

Power Utilities Round Table

Power Utility are the fastest growing segment of the broadband market, with 40% CAGR expected over the next five years. While this round table is technically not new, it has been redesigned and relaunched under the leadership of Pete Hoffswell, Holland Board of Public Works. The Power Utilities round table is focused on providing a forum for utilities that plan to enter or have entered the broadband market to discuss the challenges and opportunities as they expand beyond their current service structures.

In addition to the new committees and working groups, FBA has a number of well established and highly productive groups that continue to grow.

Technology Committee

The Technology Committee, chaired by John George of OFS, creates much of the research our industry uses to measure milestones and articulate the value fiber broadband brings to our communities. Currently, the Committee is researching the fiber broadband cost per home passed and connected ranges, including total cost of ownership vs. other technologies and is developing an updated view of the time required for various broadband technologies to upload and download files for contemporary applications in widespread use.

Education Committee

The Education committee recently created the OpTIC™ Workforce Training program that will help train the workers needed as the historic funding cycle we are entering begins. It has established a detailed education program, created partnerships with community colleges and is hosting an OpTIC™ Train the Trainer workshop at Fiber Connect 2022.

Conference Committee

The Conference Committee, chaired by Joseph Jones of

OnTrac, is responsible for the FBA’s Fiber Connect annual conference and the newly created Regional Fiber Connect broadband summits.

Marketing Committee

The Marketing Committee, chaired by Kimberly Biddy of EBP, has a mandate to share best practices and lessons learned so that any operator looking to deploy fiber broadband in their market can do so effectively and successfully.

Women in Fiber

The FBA’s newest official committee is the Women in Fiber Committee, chaired by Alexa Edens of KGP Logistics. Long a part of the FBA’s efforts to promote equality and diversity within our industry, the former workgroup is creating a robust program focused on addressing topics such as Professional Development, Mentorship, Diversity, Entrepreneurship, STEM program support, and Industry Networking, among other initiatives.

Public Officials Roundtable

There’s been unprecedented growth in the municipal broadband sector in the last year as communities explore how best to deploy fiber connectivity for residents and businesses. With the big push in Smart City services, and increased competition from big telco, cities have more broadband options than ever. The Public Officials Roundtable, chaired by Bob Knight of Harrison Edwards and Kim McKinley of Utopia Fiber, is comprised of members that represent over 150 cities, towns, counties and state agencies working on fiber deployments. The group looks at financial models, construction best practices, different business cases, and navigating supply chain matters.

Deployment Specialists

According to the FBA’s Fiber Broadband Report 2021, conducted by RVA, the industry could possibly see more fiber deployed in the next five years than has been deployed to date. This means streamlining and optimizing the process of fiber deployment is critical. The FBA’s Deployment Specialists Committee, chaired by Brendan O’Boyle, Preformed Line Products, was created to provide a discussion forum for all entities involved in the fiber deployment process. The group specifically intends to provide education around and raise awareness about the fiber deployment process, effective fiber installs, and ensuring a safe worksite while protecting underground facilities in areas of excavation.

Regardless of your job title, experience, or training, the FBA is always looking for new faces to join committees and contribute to the industry’s growth and success. For more information about how to join a committee, contact Jennifer Vassil at jvassil@fiberbroadband.org

FBA Public Policy Committee

By Co-chairs Ariane Schafer, Gov’t Affairs & Public Policy, Google Fiber, & Chris Champion, VP Gov’t Relations, C Spire

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)

With the recent signing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), there has been a high level of activity in the first quarter of 2022. The lion’s share of the broadband infrastructure funding will be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA); this agency has been a keen focus of the FBA Public Policy Committee. During the quarter, Alan Davidson was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to head the agency.

On January 19th, the Fiber Broadband Association hosted a webinar titled, “$42.5 Billion Passed for Broadband Infrastructure - Now for Your Next Steps” where top policy experts broke down the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program included in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The panel addressed key elements of the law, including which policy decisions NTIA and the States are left to make as well as the requirements for receiving these funds. More than 500 attendees joined for this deep dive into next steps about this historic program.

NTIA BEAD Program

On February 4, the FBA filed its comments with NTIA in response to its Request for Comments on implementing the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, along with 760 other commenters. The key takeaways from our 29 pages of comments are the following:

• We have the opportunity to bring Fiber to unserved and underserved areas, therefore we should make all Fiber projects priority Broadband projects – with a preference for higher speeds, greater experience, and financial wherewithal.

• We need to ensure the program is successful by bringing fiber as far as possible to unserved and underserved areas.

• The process needs to be uniform, objective, and transparent with quantifiable metrics to better ensure the success of this process.

The Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on broadband deployment featuring the testimony of Commerce Secretary Raimondo took place on February 1, 2022. Raimondo emphasized the importance of fiber deployment to solve the digital divide and a preference for BEAD projects to include fiber. Committee members expressed concerns with overbuilding and delays in getting funding allocated to states as a result of the FCC’s mapping process.

Broadband Infrastructure Playbook

The Fiber Broadband Association and the NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association have commissioned industry-leading research firm, Cartesian, to develop a Broadband Infrastructure Playbook aimed to help states and broadband offices implement best practices from the best state broadband programs and accelerate the availability and impact of a robust broadband infrastructure to the

communities they serve. This Playbook is scheduled to be released during this quarter.

Proposed Multitenant Order

At the FCC, Chairwoman Rosenworcel is circulating a proposed order on access to Multitenant Environments that would:

• Prohibit providers from entering into graduated revenue sharing agreements or exclusive revenue sharing agreements with a building owner.

• Require providers to disclose to tenants in plain language the existence of exclusive marketing arrangements that they have with building owners.

• End a practice that circumvents the FCC’s cable inside wiring rules by clarifying that existing Commission rules prohibit sale-and-leaseback arrangements that effectively block access to alternative providers.

Broadband Nutrition Labels

The FCC has initiated a rulemaking to adopt Broadband Label, which providers would be required to display, and which would provide the rates, terms, and conditions for service. Comments are due by March 9, with replies 15 days later. The FCC is required to adopt the label by November 14, 2022.

State Broadband Legislation

At the State level, Washington State is considering microtrenching legislation. The FBA has sent a letter in support.

Many states and local governments have adopted or are in the process of adopting various broadband programs using block grants from the American Rescue Plan Act, which gives them great discretion in how to spend the funding.

FBA Regional Policy Group

A Regional Policy Group for the West has formed as a subgroup of the Public Policy Committee to focus specifically on broadband policy and advocacy in the western region. If you are interested in joining this group or forming a similarly focused group for other regions, contact Melanie Wolfe, Ting Internet, mwolfe@tucows.comand or Ariane Schaffer, Google Fiber, arianeschaffer@google.com

President Biden signs the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act at the White House in Washington. Source: Adobe Stock.

Drawing a BEAD on Funding with the Broadband Infrastructure Playbook

By Doug Mohney

Signing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) earlier this year approved the allocation of $42.5 billion for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program to be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). BEAD represents a unique prospect to close the digital divide in the United States.

“BEAD holds out the promise closing the broadband deployment gap, and to a lesser extent, the adoption gap,” said Tom Cohen, the Fiber Broadband Association’s regulatory counsel and partner at the law firm of Kelly Drye. “It has enormous potential, but it also has an unusual structure. If you look at previous federal grant programs for broadband, the money is given out directly. For BEAD, the money is given out in a two-step fashion. NTIA is going to give it to the states, who are then going to give it out to grantees. The purpose of this is to put the money in the hands of the people who we expect to know more about the broadband needs in their state.”

States have varying capabilities in handling BEAD grant money, explained Cohen. Some state governments are

relatively well-prepared to deal with an initial allocation of $100 million per state and territory and the ability to apply for additional funding for unserved and underserved areas out of the remaining $37 billion while others are essential beginning from scratch.

To provide guidance and help states navigate the BEAD process, the Fiber Broadband Association and NTCA commissioned industry-leading research firm Cartesian to develop a Broadband Infrastructure Playbook. “The purpose of the playbook is to help educate all states how to do this best so that the program is a success and really does close the availability gap by giving all these unserved locations and underserved locations, robust and reliable and future proof infrastructure which is critical,” said Cohen. “It’s an educational tool. What it does is give them models for what works, what doesn’t work so they can understand how to use this money to get the best result.”

“With the historic increase in federal funding going to states for our broadband programs, I could not think of a more valuable time for this playbook,” said Taylre Beaty, State Broadband Director for the Tennessee Economic

“With the historic increase in federal funding going to states for our broadband programs, I could not think of a more valuable time for this playbook,” said Taylre Beaty, State Broadband Director for the Tennessee Economic & Community Development Department.

& Community Development Department. “Many states are just getting started with their broadband offices, and this provides an opportunity to for them to consider ideas on how to set up their programs, as well as valuable resources to get them started.”

The Playbook will help states and state broadband offices implement best practices from the best state broadband programs and accelerate the availability and impact of a robust broadband infrastructure. Now available, the Playbook has something for everyone regardless of statelevel broadband program experience.

“The Broadband Infrastructure Playbook is a roadmap for how to potentially implement the BEAD program at the state level,” said Michael Romano, President of NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association. “It’s intended as an aid to every state and territory. There are a number of states that have done broadband programs in the past and have done them well. But

the BEAD program is a different animal with different requirements. The Playbook is intended to help experienced state agencies to retrofit, adjust, and recalibrate their programs to comply with the new federal requirements. It’s also intended, on the other side of the spectrum, to help those state agencies that haven’t done this before and are just starting up.”

The Playbook will be helpful because it looks at what successful states have done with grant programs in the past, offering recommendations on how to retrofit existing programs or design programs that need to be built to meet BEAD requirements. It will also enable states to have conversations using ready-made templates and suggestions about how best to achieve the goals of the BEAD program as the law spells them out.

“We have seen over the last decade that broadband infrastructure and accessibility cannot be solved with a one-size-fits-all approach,” said Beaty. “Solutions vary from

The highly-anticipated Broadband Infrastructure Playbook is now available. Download the Playbook by visiting, https://www.fiberbroadband.org/page/playbook Source: FBA

state to state and community to community. From a state perspective, I am so appreciative of the work that FBA and NTCA is doing to ensure that states have valuable resources and sounding boards to help them prepare for administering the BEAD funding at the state-level.”

NTCA represents around 850 small rural broadband providers around the country, including independent, family-owned, and community-based telecommunications companies. “Our members serve some of the most rural areas in the nation, just under 5% of the U.S. population across roughly 30% of the U.S. landmass,” Romano said. “The average company has about 30 employees and the average density for the areas that they serve is about 7 people per square mile.”

FBA and NTCA have worked together on other issues in the past, with the relationship stepping up a level when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) emerged. “We share an interest in promoting fiber broadband networks because those are the ones that have a proven track record of performance,” said Romano. “They’re going to scale to meet customer demand and they’re not going to be the kinds of investments where you want to look back in five or 10 years and say, ‘Gosh, we should have done it differently.’”

The Playbook is designed to be a tool to ensure BEAD’s success, but what does success look like? “We need broadband infrastructure that is not just going to be helping people to be connected today but is able to scale over time,” said Jordan Gross, Federal Affairs Manager at Corning Inc. and a member of FBA’s Public Policy Committee. “If you go back 30 years, the types of technological and bandwidth and speed demands were a fraction of the demands of today. We must invest properly today so we’re not coming back and having to spend another $40 billion in a decade. This is a long-term investment in infrastructure.”

Two other goals Gross cited are making sure programs are carried out to ensure funds are being used in a fair and constructive manner by NTIA and states administrating the programs and the need for prioritizing faster broadband speed. Making sure there are checks and balances in place at NTIA and the state level for the use of government funds is needed to prevent waste or fraud, plus a process of transparency and accountability in awarding grants.

Promoting faster, scalable infrastructure is written within BEAD, according to most interpretations, along with requirements for low latency to support real-time applications

and a network uptime provision that outages don’t exceed 48 hours over any 365-day period on average.

“There’s a very clear minimum requirement of 100/20 [Mbps] speeds and the statute pushes for a priority for projects with speeds that are faster than that- a clear signal that a majority of projects should be fiber,” said Gross. “Making sure that intent is carried out in the state programs is going to be essential, because generally there may be a fair amount of variety in how each state manages their grant program. Scalability is another primary feature of the statute and it can be a harder thing to quantify. Based on the last 30 to 40 years of fiber installation we know that the scalability of fiber is indisputable. We have fiber in the ground today from the 1970s that’s still being utilized today.”

Distributing to State Broadband Offices is a priority for FBA and NTCA. “NTIA’s Notice of Funding Opportunity is set to come out in May so it’s very timely to be providing States with support now as they are getting ready,” Gross said.

Distribution of the Playbook is happening in several ways. Both FBA and NTCA have an incredibly diverse group of members across the country. Many have relationships with state broadband offices or state legislators and this project can empower members to engage their networks and their government representatives. Distribution of the playbook is not just an organization-led effort but a member-lead effort, where members can have a sense of ownership of the Playbook and utilize it in their conversations with stakeholders.

Now that the Playbook is released, the work of engaging state broadband officials and broadband stakeholders won’t stop. “The process will be shaped quite a bit by what comes out of the Notice of Funding Opportunity in May. There will be additional requirements and guidance, this is a dynamic and evolving process,” said Gross.

Romano expanded on the concept of templates, saying they could include examples of letters of intent, a five-year action plan, and other supporting materials so state offices can readily use it as a reference for preparing documents in BEAD efforts.

In June, FBA will be presenting a pre-conference workshop at Fiber Connect to go over the latest information in the Playbook. “It won’t be put out into the universe and that’ll be the end of it,” Gross said. “This is the beginning of a joint effort by FBA and NTCA to collaborate and assist state broadband offices over the next four years and beyond.”

Fiber Broadband’s Bright Future

Builds in next five years alone will rival last two decades

By Doug Mohney

The most recent Fiber Broadband Association study conducted by RVA LLC Market Research & Consulting (RVA) stated fiber is available to over 60 million homes in the U.S., including 4 million homes that have more than one fiber option. Indicators point to record growth over the next five years (Figure 2) between government funding and the recognition by public companies that fiber is important to Wall Street valuations.

“All the fiber builds to date, including 2021, will be exceeded in the next five years – at least in terms of raw demand,” said Michael Render CEO of RVA. “Private sector demand looks very strong and public sector funding, if the infrastructure funding all goes to fiber, might add 16 million homes. On the other hand, the timing of federal money allocations and constraints such as labor availability will reduce the actual build somewhat in the next five years. But the central point is that fiber construction looks extremely strong during the next five years… and well into

the next decade.”

Predicting exactly how many homes will be served five years from now is getting more complicated since some markets are starting to see multiple providers offer fiber broadband. “The number of secondary passings is increasing all the time. Taking that into consideration, fiber could reach 90 to 100 million homes, but certainly not to every household yet. And we’re having to start to account for second homes, since many of those are getting fiber as well. People need to be able to work wherever they are.”

RVA began conducting fiber broadband research in 2002 when fiber optic service was only available to 100 communities in the U.S., reaching approximately 19,000 homes. It started consumer broadband studies for the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) in 2006. The annual research provides a snapshot of the current broadband market in North America and includes the latest broadband technology deployment numbers, satisfaction rates and market growth rates.

“Today, there are about 1,200 providers of fiber,” Render said. “Some very big, like AT&T and Verizon but many are small rural telcos, electric coops, municipalities, small competitive providers and so forth. That’s the challenge

The latest FBA Broadband Consumer Study released May 2021 determined fiber has stronger reliability, the highest satisfaction rates and lowest cost per Mbps than other options on the market, including cable, DSL and DSL/FTTN hybrid, satellite, mobile wireless and fixed wireless.

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Fiber Broadband Now Passes Over 60 Million U.S. Homes

RVA Provider Study 2021

every year, the universe of providers gets bigger.”

Fiber broadband growth hasn’t been a steady upward curve over the past two decades, but the last three years have been extraordinarily strong. “We hit a peak in 2008 with 4.2 million homes passed in the year, led by Verizon’s first FiOS build,” said Render. “Then we had some decline for a few years and ramped up to a record 7.2 million in 2019. There was a little pause in 2020 among the bigger players who are now back in it, with 6.9 million homes passed.”

The latest FBA Broadband Consumer Study released May 2021 determined fiber has stronger reliability, the highest satisfaction rates and lowest cost per Mbps than other options on the market, including cable, DSL and DSL/FTTN

hybrid, satellite, mobile wireless and fixed wireless. On a competitive basis between broadband options, consumer uptake of fiber is continuing to grow, cable uptake has begun to slow and fiber uptake is now ahead of DSL. “The race is on,” Render said.

Larger providers such as AT&T, Verizon, Lumen, Frontier and Apollo, along with Tier 2 players like TDS and WindStream make up 71% of the fiber passings to date. Unique to the U.S., a mix of over 1200 Tier 3 players along with cable MSO compose the other 29% of the fiber build to date.

Fiber’s growth rate is significant with 43% of U.S. homes now being passed in under 20 years. “Copper took

More New Fiber Could Be Built in This 5-Year Period than All To Date

Preliminary Homes-Marketed Long-Term Forecast

RVA Whitepaper 2021

almost 80 years to get to 90%,” Render said. He believes fiber is going to get there much faster, especially with projected growth coming from a combination of competition in urban markets and federal monies supporting buildouts in rural areas.

“Ninety percent of [fiber] subscribers are offered a gigabit or more, with some offered multiple or more with 10 Gig the top tier,” said Render. “No other kind of broadband provider can boast those numbers or symmetrical speeds.”

But fiber is being embraced in one area some may not expect. “There’s more fiber already out there from cable companies, they’re quietly doing it in greenfields . You

also have some cable companies offloading power uses to fiber in cases where they need to reduce stress on the network. And you’ve got selective retrofitting of fiber in some areas where the existing plant is just very poor and some providers like Altice and CableOne are overbuilding and purchasing fiber providers.”

The Fiber Broadband Association consumer studies also reveal that fiber is perceived as the best option for broadband – and just as much for service providers. “People get it, that fiber is superior, not just in speed but in reliability,” Render said. “Reliability is more important than speed. There’s a real value difference in fiber and the financial community finally sees it. Service providers are

BASE: HISTORY AND FORECAST FEDERAL INVESTMENT (IF IN FIBER) 16 27.4 10.5 14.1 1.8

53.8

60.8

Figure 2: Projected Fiber Broadband Growth through 2025

5G, Smart Grid, and Other Uses Are Also Adding Significant Miles of Fiber

RVA Estimates of Linear Route Miles of Fiber Cable Installed in the United States by Application

FIBER TO THE HOME OVERBUILD

FIBER TO OUTDOOR SMALL CELLS

FIBER TO HFC BACKBONE/DEEPER FIBER

FIBER TO THE MACRO TOWER

FIBER TO THE BUSINESS

entering into a land grab realizing they should stake their claim to markets and customers using fiber. Churn is lower with fiber than other technologies making it harder for competitors to take away market share.”

While fiber boosts a company’s net promoter score (NPS), it doesn’t guarantee success as other factors come into play.

“Fiber makes a difference, but you need to add on top of that world class customer service. World class NPS scores are 60 or 70 plus net promoter scores. There’s certainly some work to do there. There are cases with small providers we’ve done some surveys for where you are getting 70 to 80% Net Promoter Score. With the legacy telcos it’s not just

FIBER FOR MAINTENANCE/RELOCATIONS

FIBER TO NEW HOUSING (BACKBONE & FTTH WHEN USED)

FIBER FOR TELECOM BACKBONE/DSL/NODE/G-FAST

FIBER LONG HAUL

FIBER FOR SECURE PRIVATE NETWORKS

their plant, they have some soft side things to fix as well, such as customer service, trust issues and so forth.”

The in-home experience is another area of opportunity, being able to deliver higher speeds within the household with better Wi-FI, rather than simply getting it to the household, and then have it encountering a sub-par wireless network. “In addition, over time, there’s more and more need to start running fiber as well as Cat-6 [wiring] to different rooms in the house. If you start doing millimeter wave Wi-Fi, it’s not going to penetrate walls. You’re either going to need a Wi-Fi hub in each room or direct connects if you want to get 10 Gbps throughout the entire home.”

Figure 3: Applications adding fiber miles

Wireless is Fiber

By Doug Mohney

Fiber’s critical role in enabling 5G and fixed wireless deployments tends to get lost in wider policy discussions of solutions for unserved markets, but AT&T is very clear of the medium’s necessity in its large-scale network buildouts. The technology’s place throughout the wireless ecosystem has a variety of descriptions, including backhaul, middle mile, front-haul, anyhaul, and X-haul, but most people outside of the industry don’t understand how fiber connects everything as a whole.

“Where fiber goes, wireless follows,” Chris Sambar, AT&T Executive Vice President of Technology Operations said at the company’s “Gigafied” event on January 24, 2022. “Most people don’t know this, but wireless is almost all fiber.”

Omdia Chief Analyst, Broadband Access, Julie Kunstler has been examining the relationship between wireless and fiber for over a decade and runs into the same misunderstandings. “Often I’m asked ‘Why do you need wireline at all? Can’t everything be on wireless?’,” said Kunstler. “There’s not enough RF spectrum. Wireless operators want to move data off wireless spectrum and onto some other medium. You can’t make more spectrum, you can’t go from 1G bandwidth, to 2.5G to 10 to 100, 400, 800, a terabit.”

The cost of transporting data is one of the key concerns in deploying 5G networks, given the vast quantities moving around as speeds move up to gigabits per second per user. “How much more money will have to be spent on backhauling the data?” Kunstler said. “Transport can really eat into operator’s margins. Fiber is being used for backhaul and going deeper into deployment areas, so fiber and 5G are extremely interconnected and very important to each other.”

Passive optical networking (PON) architecture is emerging as a key factor in 5G deployments, especially in urban

regions. “It’s fiber efficient,” Kunstler stated. “It’s a pointto-multipoint technology so it really matches the topology of 5G small cells, making it less expensive for an operator to implement rather than having to pull a separate fiber all the way from the central office to each antenna.” Some previous generation 4G LTE deployments were supported through the use of first-generation GPON, but today many operators have PON as an integral part of their networks or are considering its use. “It depends on the organization and operator,” Kunstler said. “When you can use a single converged network supporting wireless, business, and residential applications, there’s a lot of capital and operational efficiencies for fiber and PON in particular.”

For today’s applications 10G XGS-PON is sufficient for handling wireless backhaul transport but has the additional benefit of being simply upgraded through an electronics swap. “We’re seeing 25G PON coming into commercialization and in a couple of years 50G PON will be available,” said Kunstler. “These can easily handle small cell backhaul and fronthaul.”

Using PON for 5G deployments results in benefits beyond the capital cost savings on point-to-point transport. “It’s passive, it conserves energy,” Kunstler said. “If you have a corporate mandate to go carbon neutral, it helps to meet those goals.”

Federal and state broadband funding, such as $1.2 billion allocated to middle-mile through the BEAD program, are likely to provide incentives for carriers expanding access networks. “More access fiber will drive more middle-mile fiber,” Kunstler said. “Metro ports can support residential and enterprise services as well as mobile backhaul so there will be a positive impact on metro networks, not just the access network. Several vendors, like Ciena, have combined access with metro networks, blurring the lines between the two. They are adding PON to their existing switching and routing in the metro space, enabling the same piece of equipment to support access.”

Broadband equipment manufacturer Nokia agreed with the evolving perception of fiber as a complement to wireless, not as a replacement.

“Every time there is a new mobile technology, we always hear this is the end of fixed networks and fixed connectivity,” said Ana Pesovic, Nokia Senior Marketing Director. “It was 3G and then LTE and now its 5G that will solve all the problems and we will not need cables anymore. But it’s exactly the opposite. With 5G, fiber is needed more than ever before.”

Pesovic cited two areas where fiber and 5G come together. “One is to complement fiber coverage with fixed wireless access,” she said. “The other is fiber supporting 5G for efficient transport. We see some great quotes from operators worldwide, including AT&T, Telefonica, Orange, and others, that when you have fiber networks passing houses and businesses you can use fiber to connect 5G small cells because there is a matching footprint.”

Why didn’t fiber and cellular networks fit together as well in earlier deployments? “When 3G and LTE started, there were not as many deployments around fiber access networks,” Pesovic said. “For the lower density of radio

sites that we had in LTE, point-to-point fiber was working well. Now with 5G, especially with millimeter wave deployments, the density of small cells will be higher. 5G uses higher frequencies, which enables higher speeds, but with the downside that signals cannot travel as far as with 3G or 4G. Consequently, 5G networks will need to densify to cover an area. You will need more small cells because the cell coverage is smaller.”

Deploying 5G millimeter wave to its fullest coverage capacity in urban areas will be costly. The increased density of 5G cells compared to previous technologies is driving new ways to do transport more affordably, as transport is the second highest operational expense behind tower leasing in the cost of operating a 5G network.

“Nokia Bell Labs has done a business case analysis comparing the total cost of ownership for different anyhaul options and they have found PON-based anyhaul is 50% more cost efficient than any other traditional transport technology, be it microwave backhaul, point-to-point fiber, or

Fiber is a critical part of the 5G infrastructure.

Source: Adobe Stock Images

point-to-point fiber all the way to the cell,” Pesovic said. “It’s the most interesting for converged operators to have mobile transport and fixed services as part of the network because they don’t have to lease fiber from someone else and they can achieve the biggest savings which can go up to 50%.”

Fiber’s ability to easily upgrade is another point for it being the optimum anyhaul solution for wireless broadband. “As 5G growth continues and traffic on the mobile network increases, there will be a need for more capacity on the transport network,” Pesovic said. “One of the beauties of fiber is you can bring new technologies onto the existing network, you just have to change electronics at both ends. There’s nothing that needs to be done in the middle part. You can increase capacity to deal with bandwidth growth. Already GPON is being replaced by XGS-PON, 25G PON is available, tomorrow will be 50G, 100G, and so on.”

Deploying fiber and PON also has the advantage that the technology is designed for high-density deployments and can easily support the needs of current and future 5G microcell networks. “We also hear from our customers that PON is very easy to deploy,” Pesovic said. “It’s really plug-and-play, just plugging the fiber into a very small form factor ONT and directly into the cell site. Anyone can do it, you don’t need a specialized technician who has specific knowledge on PON networks, it’s really easy.”

Operators who invested in fiber networks early on now have new income prospects available as they upgrade their networks. “We first built out fiber mostly for residential, but now it has the capability of doing so much more because we’re at higher speeds,” said Keith Russell, Nokia FTTx Product Marketing Manager. “Operators have the opportunity to add revenue by doing backhaul for mobile operators. Converged operators can use that infrastructure in place to feed their own cell sites.”

Fiber’s huge capacity also provides new flexibility and options for non-traditional providers and uses. “Mobile providers are leasing dark fiber and deploying PON, just using it for mobile transport,” Pesovic said. “New investors in fiber infrastructure are hoping to have as many tenants and services as possible so that they can collect more revenues with the same infrastructure. Utilities and enterprises are using anyhaul for their campuses, with wireless gaining traction in the Industry 4.0 space where you have capacity and mobility for all the services, machinery, and devices you have around campus. You still need to backhaul these wireless services, or anyhaul for enterprise. We call it an optical LAN.”

It’s also important to note different PON speeds can co-exist on the same network. “We sometimes hear ‘Is it 25 Gig or is it 50 Gig?’ and that’s the wrong debate. It’s not about choosing one or the other, they can perfectly deploy XGS-PON today. They can add 25 Gig, there’s coexistence so they don’t have to change anything in the outside plant or, in our case, even change the hardware in the central office or the access node. In the future, when 50 Gig would be needed, the coexisting work is guaranteed so you can add 50 Gigabit technology on top of 25 Gig and XGS and you simply increase the capacity of your network.”

Interestingly, some 5G and other fixed wireless deployments occurring today may ultimately convert to fiber. As FBA Chairman Kevin Morgan noted in his Fiber Connect interview for this edition, some Wireless ISPs (WISPs) are deploying fiber all the way to their customers today, having proven initial business viability and existing customer demand with wireless deployments. It is not a large stretch to envision converged carriers using 5G fixed wireless in the same fashion, identifying business and residential customers today that could be viable candidates for fiber in the future.

Every time there is a new mobile technology, we always hear this is the end of fixed networks and fixed connectivity ... It was 3G and then LTE and now its 5G that will solve all the problems and we will not need cables anymore. But it’s exactly the opposite. With 5G, fiber is needed more than ever before.

The Soft Arts of Deploying and Protecting Fiber

By Doug Mohney

As the race to deploy fiber faster accelerates, efficiently securing rights-of-way, understanding where fiber is going to be deployed, and carefully detailing where it is placed are all essential. Permitting delays can lead to additional project costs while failing to properly document fiber runs can lead to service disruptions and delays in repairs.

One of the first steps in any fiber project or expansion is examining and reviewing the availability of rights-ofway to deploy fiber. And there are many options. “For us to do any of the work we like to do, we’ve got to deal with various rights-of-way owners, whether it be private, public, railroads, river crossings, poles, you name it,” said Jay Jorgensen, Chief Operating Officer at eX² Technology, an Omaha, NE turnkey design-build firm that also operates, maintains and commercializes fiber networks and other communications assets. “The funny thing about railroads is there’s no way around them because they go from one end of the country to the other.”

The first rights-of-way reviews starts with feasibility studies examining what challenges there will be in securing fiber routing, Jorgensen explained. Getting access along roads is relatively straightforward, regardless of who owns the pavement – county, city or state. county, city, or state. Permitting issued by the state Department of Transportation agencies tends to be predictable, with permits obtainable within 30 to 60 days if applicants provide good architectural drawings and go through the process correctly.

Deploying fiber on poles can be a two-step process, first with an application to the pole owner that is usually reviewed in a 45-day period, depending on local regulations, and a potential for “make-ready” work with other occupants needing to move to accommodate the new fiber. Pole owners may take responsibility for makeready changes, have the existing utilities on the pole do it, or the new applicant be responsible. The uncertainty

around make-ready changes can add unforeseen costs and schedule delays, with the entire process taking anywhere from a couple of months to up to eight or nine months in the extreme.

Private rights-of-way are the most complex with railroad access and rights-of-way permitting requiring environments permits taking 90 to 180 days. In the Western United States, getting permissions from the Bureau of Land Management and other federal government entities can come into play while rights-ofway on tribal lands adds additional unique aspects to the process along with additional time to work through issues.

Once information on rights-of-way for a build has been gathered, it can be scrutinized, factoring in the cost and time implications of using different fiber routing. Placing fiber on poles may appear cheaper, but a deeper examination taking into account make-ready work can add additional time and costs to a project.

Even municipality and utility projects which already have native rights-of-way assigned to their organizations need to consider the need for access beyond what is already held and controlled. While a municipality may own much of the rights-of way needed, ensuring the permitting process goes smoothly, the local government or utility needs to factor in needs to get private rights-of-way access to complete the project, such as railroads, Bureau of Land Management or the Corps of Engineers if a waterway crossing is involved.

Underground locate companies find and mark where cables and facilities are buried for utility companies, working to prevent the disruption of services when excavation is needed for new construction or repairs. Locate services and better documentation of where fiber is being placed underground are becoming significant and critical issues as the telecommunications industry gears up to deploy more fiber over the next five years

than they have in the last twenty, according to RVA LLC research commissioned by the Fiber Broadband Association.

“We’ve seen an evolution in the fiber space. Historically, it was a lot easier to replace a copper telephone line than it was to economically locate it,” said Sara Magruder Lyle, President and CEO of the Common Ground Alliance (CGA). “Fiber is expensive to put into the ground. When it’s damaged, it’s not just a phone line or one house out of service anymore. You don’t want to be the person in your neighborhood that cuts off the Super Bowl to the entire neighborhood. We’ve had issues where a contractor has hit a line into a 911 call center. Last year, an excavator hit the main line into Arlington County school building and knocked out virtual learning for the county.”

CGA is a stakeholder-run organization dedicated to preventing damage to underground utility infrastructure and protecting those who live and work near those assets, with everything from gas and water pipelines to fiber falling into that category. “There are a lot of things in the ground – water, power, sewer, fiber, gas, oil, all those things that make the world go round that

communities and people rely on every day,” Lyle said. These different and vital utilities can all share the same rights-of-way, making locate service vital for new installation and repairs.

“We have been working with associations like FBA to try to increase the awareness of the importance of calling 811 before you dig,” said Lyle. “Not only is it important when you are putting fiber into the ground but also important for others who are operating around your asset.”

CGA has a unique relationship with the 811 service, sometimes referred to as the “Miss Utility” service, holding the trademark to the 811 trademarks and promoting the use of the number to mark utility lines before excavation starts. Each state runs their own 811 call center, checking to see if there are utilities in the dig area and if so, dispatching locate companies to find and mark facilities prior to excavation begins.

Incident reports of disrupted services due to excavation collected in CGA’s

Damage Information Reporting Tool – yes, DIRT – show that 38% of telecommunications incidents are caused by a “No Locate Request” when someone simply starts digging,

Figure 1: Damages by Facility Operation. Source: Common Ground Alliance

not making an 811 call beforehand to mark utility lines. Another 30% are caused by improperly documented and marked lines. Yet the telecom industry is one of the lowest to submit DIRT reports while work performed for telecom results in the greatest number of damages on telecom facilities as shown in Figure 1.

“You’re talking 68% of the damage to telecom fiber comes from either a Locate issue or a No Locate Request,” Lyle said. “We certainly have work to do there, making sure contractors that are working for fiber companies understand they have to follow best practices and follow state law by calling 811 in the required time priority to digging.”

Why is the industry encountering so many more incidents than other utilities? “Telecom is the quiet critical asset,” Lyle said. “What I’ve seen in our data statistically and anecdotally is when somebody is putting a natural gas line in or a pipeline in to move liquid, everybody and their mother knows about it forever. It’s been litigated, everybody knows the path, everybody knows where it’s going.”

Competitive pressures to quickly put in fiber are also contributing to the higher DIRT damage numbers. “It’s a different than the other utilities because power and sewer, none of those are competitive assets,” Lyle said. “The push for fiber means that a lot of these projects are coming in under the cover of the night and suddenly everybody has to move quickly,” said Lyle. “It might mean locators coming in from other states that aren’t as experienced in the area.” Contractors may also not properly document where fiber is buried due to schedule pressures to install it as rapidly as possible and move onto the next neighborhood.

Lyle noted locate companies will have substantially more need for their services in the years to come as the infrastructure bill puts more money into building and repairing critical services beyond telecom. “Fiber is not the only utility that’s going to be going gangbusters to put stuff underground,” she said. “Think about the amount of power [lines] that PG&E is going to put underground in California. There is a mad dash to replace older water and sewer pipelines. Telecom has to be part of the damage prevention discussion.”

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Fiber Creates Jobs

By Doug Mohney

Fiber broadband is a future-proof technology capable of delivering reliable gigabit service to communities. It will continue to be easily upgradable when homes and businesses inevitably need faster services for tomorrow’s applications. But over the past decade, we’ve seen fiber create another significant benefit in the cities and communities it serves. Fiber creates jobs. The economic impact that the fiber broadband industry has created is one of the key benefits that only fiber can deliver.

Consider Chattanooga, Tennessee, the first city in the United States to offer 1 Gbps services for all residents and businesses in 2010. Over the following decade, Chattanooga’s fiber optic network directly supported the creation and retention of over 9,500 jobs in Hamilton County, which accounted for nearly 40 percent of all jobs that were created during that time. These figures were documented in “Ten Years of Fiber Optic and Smart

Grid Infrastructure in Hamilton County, Tennessee,” an independent study conducted by the University of Tennessee Chattanooga.

According to the same study, Chattanooga’s network is also credited with keeping the local unemployment rate lower than the state’s average. High-speed broadband provides an extra boost by enabling local businesses to offer remote work more quickly. Looking at data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in December 2021 the unemployment rate in Chattanooga was 2.9% and its county was 3.2%. Both figures fall under Tennessee’s 3.8% unemployment rate.

But there is more behind the data that can testify to fiber’s ability to create jobs. The real stories are shared at the local level. For example, People’s Rural Telephone Cooperative (PRTC) in Eastern Kentucky started delivering gigabit service to every home and business

Like many industries, the fiber marketplace is in need for skilled workers.

Source: Adobe Stock

in Jackson and Owsley counties in 2014 and has since expanded its coverage footprint to neighboring areas.

After seeing the possibilities that can come from a community connected, PRTC sought out a partnership with Teleworks USA to train Kentucky citizens in computer skills for work-from-home opportunities. The project has been credited with creating over 1,200 work-from-home jobs in the area in just five years. “If we had a factory open up with 1,200 jobs, that would be pretty big news,” said PRTC CEO Keith Gabbard. “Some people are working for Apple, Hilton, these aren’t cold call-type jobs, these are customer service and technical support jobs.”

Communities and elected officials cannot ignore the job growth that fiber has created in telecom. A policy brief published by Brookings Institute suggests that expanding broadband nationwide could directly create over 60,000 telecom jobs, including line installers, equipment installers, power line technicians, electronics engineers, cell tower equipment installers, and the staff to support them. This analysis is found in “How federal infrastructure investment can put America to work,” a March 2021 policy brief published by the Brookings Institute’s Certain for Sustainable Development. An earlier report in October 2020 from the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee forecasts that at least 20,000 more broadband-related technicians will be required over the next ten years to support expansion and upgrade efforts.

Fiber broadband also enables states to support economic diversification and revitalization for communities facing economic transition. For example, Colorado and New Mexico are incorporating broadband as part of their strategies to enable communities reliant upon energy production to transition to a more varied mix of businesses. We have also seen how the COVID-19 pandemic increases the need for state job centers to deliver work-based learning and develop, advance, and retain digital workers. In the National Governors Association (NGA) September 21, 2021, editorial, “Governors’ Broadband Investments are Creating Jobs,” it showed how states across the country are investing their own monies in workforce development and broadband networks.

Fiber broadband networks will have an impact on communities and the people that live there for decades to come. The jobs it can create, from skilled technical positions to WFH jobs created by companies that leverage better broadband to expand operations, will continue to create more opportunities and infinite possibilities for the future.

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Springfield Leases Dark Fiber for Lumen Broadband Delivery

By Doug Mohney

SpringNet, a division of Springfield, Missouri’s utilities company, found itself with a lot of dark fiber and some ideas on how to use it to better the community and extend service to all of its 111,000 residential and business customers. The organization had been operating a metro Ethernet broadband network for decades but realized there was a lot more it could do.

“SpringNet is over 20 years old and has been focused entirely on the commercial and enterprise customer,” said Jeff Bertholdi, Director of SpringNet. “In 2016, we started thinking outside the box, looking at the Digital Divide and taking economic development to a whole new level.”

A market research study commissioned by the organization reviewed Springfield’s residential and commercial broadband availability. “We looked at not only just the [FCC] 25/3 Mbps definition but delivering gigabit capability. Springfield was extremely anemic in the residential [broadband] space and really anemic in the commercial [broadband] space as well,” Bertholdi said. “In 2019, we announced a $120 million project to improve our network. That project is taking fiber to every home and commercial address in the Springfield area.”

Since the project started, the price tag has grown to $140 million, a combination of expanded coverage and increased materials costs over the past year. But SpringNet won’t be delivering retail broadband services to residential and business customers. It’s leaving that task to its partner, Lumen Technologies. SpringNet is leasing dark fiber and rack space to Lumen, with the carrier holding the responsibility of lighting and operating the network and deploying fiber in the last few feet from the curb into the customer premise.

Under this unique arrangement, Lumen will carry the cost of last foot fiber deployment, installing fiber and turning up customers as they sign up for services. SpringNet is freed from the capital and operational expenses of connecting everyone and brings an experienced service provider into the city for broadband delivery.

Fiber Line Crews installing fiber cable. Source: SpringNet

“We bought dark fiber right to each address in our demarcation points, with each point typically serving either four or eight addresses, depending on the density of the neighborhood or commercial building,” Bertholdi said. “Lumen is responsible for lighting every piece of it. We don’t have any electronics in the mix. Our responsibility is to respond when there’s fiber damage and we do the repair, but we don’t know when they have a problem until they call us.”

The biggest potential threats to fiber in Springfield are squirrels, followed by the occasional accident taking down a utility pole. “Around 80% of our fiber damage is related to squirrel,” Bertholdi said. “The anti-squirrel treatments don’t work. They still chew it.”

The SpringNet build delivered 1,000 route miles to Lumen for delivering service to the entire city. Lumen has a 30year total lease in place for the dark fiber, a first 15-year agreement with three 5-year automatic renewals.

Bertholdi credits The Broadband Group (TBG)’s work in making the Lumen deal happen, first coming across the firm with its efforts in broking a deal with Google Fiber and Huntsville utilities in Huntsville, Alabama. TBG brought in its experience and expertise in understanding utilities, economic development, and building fiber networks to the table.

“The Broadband Group has more knowledge in the utilities and broadband space than anybody else,” Bertholdi said. “A consultant of that type was necessary for a utility to venture down the road of leasing dark fiber. They stood far and above everyone else with the skill set that they bring to the table, their contacts in the industry, and their experience. They’ll level with you on what works and what doesn’t. TBG talked us out of doing stuff that we really thought we wanted to do. They really come in and look at the community and say, ‘Here’s what we think would work best.’”

What advice would Bertholdi offer from SpringNet’s experiences in leasing? “Any municipality or utility that wants to undertake a project like this needs to know their infrastructure very well,” he said. “Parts of our infrastructure needed more attention than we expected after years of storms and storm repairs. You lose sight of what it would take to add a new provider on your poles.”

“Timing is everything,” Bertholdi finished. “Right now, there are a lot of problems with the workforce and materials delivery. People just need to be prepared for the longer timeline. I know there’s a lot of ARPA money available, but it’s going to be really difficult to spend, quite frankly.”

Pharr, Texas: A Bad Water Bill to City Fiber

By Doug Mohney

How Pharr, Texas, elected its current mayor is the stuff of legends, but the city’s quest to deliver fiber to all of its 20,000 households in only 12 months during pandemic supply chain shortages is almost as epic. The municipality of 80,000 people has built a passionate team of public servants and commercial contractors working to connect everyone in town without raising taxes.

Back in 2011, town native Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez got upset with his rising water bill -- upset enough to run for mayor, winning his first four-year term in 2015 and re-election to a second in 2019. High-speed affordable Internet has been a priority as part of the administration’s commitment to invest in infrastructure and advance educational opportunities for its citizens.

“Nowadays, Internet access is as basic a necessity as electricity and water. Connectivity is critical for parents to work, for students to learn and for families to function effectively in a fast-paced, global, competitive world,” said Mayor Hernandez. “As city leaders, we recognized the importance of providing opportunities for our residents and families to have every means necessary for them to be successful, and in Pharr, we are not afraid to do things that have never been done before.”

Historically, the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) region has been on the wrong side of the digital divide, an issue that continues even in today’s technology-driven world. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the

Texas-Mexico border is one of the least connected regions in the United States. Sixty percent of border counties along the Rio Grande do not have home access, which is a distinction shared by the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia, two other parts of the country with pernicious poverty.

According to the Digital Inclusion Alliance, three RGV cities in Texas rank in the top five “worst connected” cities in the nation list – Pharr (1st), Brownsville (2nd) and Harlingen (5th). The City’s frustration grew since it was at once ranked as the worst connected, yet it could not access or even qualify and apply for existing federal government broadband loan and grant programs due to an outdated definition of “rural.”

The City of Pharr prides its reputation on problem-solving and innovation and has been leading the effort to bridge the digital divide for families for many years. It created an initial broadband pilot project, Pharr Life Net, using wireless technology to connect 50 homes for educational access. Pharr Life Net was created in collaboration with the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District, Region One Education Service Center, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and private entities such as BBVA Compass bank.

To understand how to best deliver broadband to everyone, the city launched two studies, one focused on residential household service delivery and equipment for each home,

The city of Pharr, TX, is putting itself on the broadband map. Source: Gary L. Hider - Adobe Stock

and the other a comprehensive financial impact feasibility study on how better connectivity would impact the city, region and its residents. As Pharr gained experience with its wireless solutions and compared notes with adjacent cities, the drawbacks to deploying wireless across town became clearer.

“We asked ‘How do we go from a pilot to a production system?’” said Jose Peña, Pharr’s Director of Innovation and Technology Department. “We looked at different scenarios. One of our neighbors deployed wireless at the street level, putting equipment on electric poles. But that doesn’t work if you are the kid inside doing homework, four houses down from that pole. It might work for you if you have an unobstructed view from a pole in front of your house and you don’t have mature trees in your front yard.”

Wireless offered a “quick fix” solution, but Pharr wanted to deliver the best broadband possible with fiber emerging as the future-proof answer. Another alternative the city evaluated was working with the incumbent cable provider, but there was no interest from that quarter. “They are only available in the north and central portion of the city, not in the lower-income southern part of town,” Peña said. “The provider didn’t want to have anything to do with municipalities. They don’t want to partner with anyone. It was an A/B conversation, them and a private citizen.”

After reviewing its options, including in-house or outsourcing a network project, the mayor set an ambitious goal of delivering fiber to all households within 12 months, rolling out 400 miles of brand-new fiber in total. Fortuitously, Pharr had assembled a set of agile partners for its project, including

supply chain management authority Graybar, project management firm Brownstone, CTC Communications, CobbFendley Engineering, Corning and Calix.

“The first issue is supply. COVID affected supply,” Peña said. “All sorts of products have been affected, fiber, conduit, handholes, almost every single piece that we’re working with has been affected. The mayor just wanted to get it done. That’s where Graybar came in. We needed a partner that has the resources to be able to assist and the inventory to be able to provide the supplies we need, and at the quantities we need because it’s a pretty big project.”

Making Pharr work meant Graybar played a key role in managing the on-time delivery of thousands of critical things. “They needed the outside plant infrastructure from us in order to have the contractors deploy it,” said Scott Jackson, National Market Manager, Broadband, Graybar. “We’re the ones that delivered on that part. We try to make sure the product and materials are there for fiber optics and all the aerial, underground and consumables. It has to be on time to keep the contractors working to keep on budget.”

Graybar served as the supply chain expert and logistics manager, a wholesaler working with numerous manufacturers to ensure the right equipment was available and would arrive on time as needed. “We don’t manufacture anything but service,” Jackson said.

The biggest concern in meeting the aggressive build schedule was securing the actual fiber cable and any

Continued on page 55

Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez and city officials break ground for the city’s new fiber network. Source: City of Pharr, TX

Fiber to the Farm

Precision Agriculture’s Open-Ended Broadband

By Doug Mohney

Computers, crops and cows aren’t an intuitive fit, but the idea of precision farming emerged at the same time as the personal computer in the early ‘80s. Today, there’s a whole toolbox of technologies and practices enabling farmers to best manage their fields and herds to optimize yields and improve sustainability, including soil sampling; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); Global Positioning System (GPS); variable rate irrigation, fertilization and herbicides; satellite remote sensing; automatic tractor navigation and robotics; proximal sensing of soils and crops using the Internet of Things (IoT); AI; data analytics; and edge computing.

Improved and easily scalable broadband network connectivity is important to support a fundamental American industry that grows the world’s food, especially as precision agriculture improves crop yields and sustainability through the most efficient use of land, water, fertilizer, herbicides and energy. But rural areas have been traditionally unserved or underserved due to the challenges of distance and geography.

“In the past five years, precision agriculture started becoming a real element to farming and ranching,” said Jimmy Todd, a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Precision Agriculture Task Force and Fiber Broadband Association board member, having earlier served as an advisor to the group when it was formed in 2018. Todd’s other job is CEO & General Manager of NexTech, a rural broadband service provider delivering fiber to the premise in Kansas.

“We started talking about a network that gets to the farm and ranch headquarters, if you will, then a ‘Last Acre’ network,” Todd said. “Both networks are necessary for precision ag and you want the most robust network possible to get to that ranch or farm so data can be passed from the last acre, whether it’s row crops, orchards or livestock, to the central connectivity point.”

One of the most vexing issues facing precision agriculture is how much bandwidth is sufficient for rural farms.

Self-driving tractors are the latest tool available to farmers to improve productivity. Source: John Deere

“Throughout the first two years of the Task Force, that’s a question we really asked a lot,” Todd said. “It wouldn’t be crazy to think a small to mid-sized farm would need at least 100 Mbps of connectivity as we see the evolution of precision ag. Larger operations are going to need more than that and it really depends on the mix of tools being used. Where it’s sensors, it’s low bandwidth but you need a lot of area coverage. Controlling drones that spray areas for fertilizer and weeds, that’s going to need a whole lot of bandwidth and requires very low latency.”

Regardless of the application, Todd sees the need for more bandwidth and lower latency to be open-ended as farms and ranches expand their portfolio of uses. There will also be further development as to what IT models translate into the agricultural environment. Companies such as John Deere and International Harvester currently operate in a stovepipe fashion, their machinery sending data directly to the cloud. Some edge computing occurs onboard today to reduce overall bandwidth usage with existing backhaul occurring via cellular when available, but one future path could include taking information in through a wireless “last acre” network and servers doing necessary processing locally at farm headquarters while passing along pertinent data upstream via a broadband connection to the cloud as needed.

Due to their rural nature and wide expanses of land, farms and ranches haven’t been a priority for broadband projects with few exceptions. Selection criteria for past projects typically favor areas that have closely clustered populations to provide the best overall numbers from unserved to served households.

Autonomous vehicles, such as self-driving tractors, only increase the need to bring fiber to the farm. Source: John Deere

“[NTIA] BEAD funding is really important,” Todd said. “The challenge is every state is going to do their own thing. There is a recognition in the agricultural stats that broadband connectivity is needed for their farms and ranches. But anytime there’s public funding available, there’s lobbying going on to cover areas that aren’t pure agricultural. States will be wrestling with increasing connectivity between rural verses non-rural areas. If the focus is on moving total households from unserved to served, putting connectivity into unserved rural areas is going to produce lower numbers.”

Some farms have been more fortunate, such as those served by Nex-Tech in Northwest and Northcentral Kansas. The service provider was able to leverage FCC Universal Service Funding to provide fiber access to a population base of around 30,000 people distributed across 10,000 square miles.

Farming as IT

Fortune 500 company Deere & Company – better known as John Deere – is one of the catalysts driving high-speed broadband to the farm. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the first fully autonomous tractor ready for largescale production, building on a series of technologies

REGIONAL CONNECT FIBER

John Deere has invested in over two decades, including GPS receivers for precision navigation that can be finetuned to provide accuracy of an inch or less for delivering water, fertilizer and pesticides and telematics systems built into every large vehicle rolling out of the factory.

“We made the tractor the physical center of our CES 2022 booth,” said Julian Sanchez, Director of Emerging Technology, John Deere. “Everything surrounding it are building blocks for what helped us achieve autonomy. For the last 10 years, we’ve developed a fairly robust infrastructure of digital solutions and hardware on [our] vehicles that transmits data back to a digital platform. That was critical because for an autonomous vehicle in agriculture, the farmer’s going to still want to know, ‘What’s going on out there? What is it seeing? What if it runs into something? What if it detects something? I want to see what it is so I can confirm whether it should run over it.’”

Putting six pairs of stereo cameras on a tractor provides more than simply driving around without hitting anything. “Obviously, the name of the game is obstacle detection,” Sanchez said. “But those cameras are also used to detect quality of job being done, which is a unique aspect for agriculture. It’s not just about getting from A to B, it’s also about getting from A to B while doing a job.”

John Deere’s journey to an autonomous tractor started decades ago with every large vehicle coming out of the factory incorporating the company’s AutoTrac technology to transmit machine operational data to the cloud. But without a proper “pipeline” between vehicles, farms and its IT infrastructure, John Deere developed solutions to work around the lack of available broadband.

“The whole mindset back then was to go all in on a store and push architecture where we put enough memory on the vehicle to just store, store, store. If you got within Wi-Fi range or if found some cellular coverage -- in 2010, we’re talking 2G -- we’d push it out,” Sanchez said. “We were also only sampling data rates every 20 minutes, just because we didn’t have enough bandwidth to send it all. That’s nice data but that’s not very valuable.”

“Fast forward to today. For most of the sensors on these vehicles, we’re collecting data at one hertz [once per second]. If there’s a moisture sensor on the vehicle, we’re capturing the moisture of the soil, we are basically sampling at one hertz. We do have some algorithms to clean some of [the data] up on board, but we are now transmitting megabytes and megabytes of data per vehicle per day.” A farm full of tractors and other connected vehicles can generate gigabytes per day, Sanchez said, but the same model of store and push remains today due the lack of broadband connectivity.

One Nebraska farmer visiting the CES 2022 John Deere booth used his cell phone to highlight existing functionality, showing where his 30 tractors were as little tractor icons overlayed on a Google Earth image. Occasionally equipment gets “lost” on a property that large but can located in seconds through the app. Tapping on a tractor icon brought up detailed information as to how the vehicle was performing.

Productivity has also gone up because the gentleman farmer could monitor the fuel state of all the vehicles –including the tractor his father drives. Dad wants to get as much plowing done as possible but doesn’t keep an eye on the gas tank. “He ran out of gas at least four times [in the past],” said the farmer, with the tractor sitting idle while someone else had to go out to the field and refuel it, tying up another person’s time. Now he gets an alert when the fuel gauge dips below a quarter tank, so he can call Dad and tell him to drive back to the barn to gas up instead of pushing his luck getting another couple of acres in.

Significantly improved broadband on the farm enabled by fiber will allow John Deere and others to substantially increase the amount of valuable information they can bring back to the cloud, Sanchez noted. “It will allow even more and more push” of larger data sets, pointing to stereo camera imagery collected from its new tractor enabling the company to further refine autonomous vehicles operations as one example.

Source: John Deere

Fiber Connect 2022: More People, More Content, More Focused

By Doug Mohney

If the Fiber Connect (FC) 2021 conference was spectacular, 2022 promises to be better yet, according to Conference Chairman Joseph “JJ” Jones.

“Last year, we really blew all the records away,” Jones said. “It was the perfect storm in a good way. Everyone was ready to get back out and reconnect. Layer on top of that all the growth in our industry and reliance on the network for work and school, as well as funding coming down the way from RDOF to the proposed Presidential Build Back America Fund. All that lining up gave us tremendous attendance.”

Jones also credits the conference location in Nashville for bringing in the best attendance numbers to date. “It’s a prime location for us and has been since the beginning. Nashville provides what we call a large area of drivein traffic because of its location. If you look at [FBA] membership, it’s significantly Midwest, Southeast. A lot of people can drive-in and not have to fly and if they have to fly, it’s a hub city for many airlines”

The conference committee believes increasingly favorable conditions for fiber networks will deliver still larger numbers in 2022. “The industry is just booming,” Jones stated

with enthusiasm. “The next five years is going to be warp drive. The pandemic was really the final tipping point for communities trying to decide of ‘Do we do this or not?’ Now the decision has been made, it’s not ‘Do we do it, but when do we do it and how do we do it?’ Communities across the country, especially in rural America, have decided to put in a fiber broadband network to stay relevant, to keep talent at home and to compete locally, nationally, and globally.”

Given those conditions, the conference committee is projecting more people and building out strong educational content, as well as receiving robust support from exhibitors. “We’ve already almost maxed out our exhibitor space so we’re continuing to build on our momentum in content.” Jones stated. “That comes down to recruiting industry experts to be keynote panelists and session panelists for breakout sessions. Attendees are eager to learn, ask questions, and network and our goal is to build a program that supports that.”

FC 2022 will have a significantly expanded agenda on multiple fronts. The theme for the conference is “unlimited capacity creates limitless possibilities” The goal is to showcase the economic and societal impact

Joseph “JJ” Jones, FBA Conference Chairman, welcomes attendees to Fiber Connect 2021. Source: FBA

fiber broadband has on communities and the people that live there. There will be four pre-conference workshops, up from two last year, six breakout tracks – plus one from 2021 – and a multi-day OpTIC™ Train the Trainer workshop during the conference. “Our OpTIC training program is very new,” Jones stated. “We’re partnering with community colleges and technical colleges, looking at fiber broadband as a trade.”

Among the four pre-conference workshops on Sunday, June 12, two will be returning: “The Future of Fiber Technologies,” put on by BASe last year and the mainstay “Fiber Broadband Starter Kit” conducted for the last five years. “The Starter Kit workshop is for brand-new deployers or communities and public officials that want to know what it takes to deploy a fiber broadband network. We cover at a high level as many topics as we can, from soup to nuts or A to Z, everything from legal, regulatory, to funding and marketing, to planning, designing, and engineering all the way to how to perform installations to the end user.”

CableFAX and the American Communications Association (ACA) will be conducting a new workshop for MSOs on the applications of fiber within existing cable networks while FBA will present a session workshop on the newly created “Broadband Infrastructure Playbook.” The Playbook document is designed to assist State governments as they implement the Broadband Equity, Access, and Development (BEAD) program and tap into its $42.45 billion funding pool.

The conference committee had just started its Call for Speakers submission review process when Fiber Forward spoke with Jones. “We’re going through over 100 submissions. It’s fantastic that so many people are interested in speaking at Fiber Connect. We are going through those submissions and trying to see which ones will provide the best topics and content for our attendees.”

Jones expects there will be over 175 speakers across 4 pre-conference workshops, six tracks, and several general session plenary panels. “We’re being more targeted this year in our content and speakers,” Jones said. “In the past we’ve built our program around the submissions that have come in. Now we’re focusing on specific themes for the tracks and getting specific on breakout session titles within the track to let people know what we’re looking for and let them respond based on what we want.”

The six session tracks for Fiber Connect 2022 are: Operator Best Practices; Deployment – View from the Field; Industry Perspective; Innovation – Taking Fiber Further Track; Case Study Central – Lighting Up a Brighter Future; Fiber Drivers – The Applications Driving Multi-Gig. Individual sessions will focus on topics such as revitalizing downtown, making communities safer, cybersecurity implications and opportunities, workforce development, middle mile innovation, fiber for 5G, speeds of 25G and

beyond, Smart City, Smart Grid, Smart Home, industrial IoT, and urban migration and work from home.

On the attendee side, FC 2022 is working with a number of broadband associations at the state and national level. “We’re in the process of creating partnership agreements where they will promote Fiber Connect to their members and host meetings at our event,” Jones said. “We’re trying to reach more people and this is a way for us to continue to highlight the Association, and to get more attendees at Fiber Connect.”

At press time, the conference committee was working to finalize a number of keynote sessions and panels including session that focus on federal programs, state level initiatives, the rise in utility and municipal broadband programs, fiber impact on local economies, and industry leadership roundtable with execs from FBA, NRECA, CTA, NTCA and ACA. Speakers for keynote panels sessions include representatives from regulatory agencies, state broadband offices, operators of all sizes and types, as well as companies helping drive demand for the capacity delivered with fiber broadband

“We have a panel called ‘Fiber and the Social Good’ that I’m excited about. Several companies are going above and beyond deploying fiber and are giving back to their communities. The panel is discussing what they are doing, whether it be through a foundation they’ve established to contribute to nonprofit organizations in or setting a coding academy for low-income schools. I think it’s very applicable for our attendees to hear stories like this that really go above and beyond simply providing broadband, video, and voice services.”

Fiber Broadband Association Premier Member Meeting

Photo Gallery

FBA leadership and Premier Members gathered in December 2021 in Washington, D.C. to plan for opportunities ahead in 2022. Photos by Deborah Kish.

Preformed Line Products’ Dan Levac and FBA Board Chair and Clearfield’s Kevin Morgan catch up at the Premier Member Meeting.

The FBA Premier Members gather for an exciting two-day meeting in Washington, D.C.

FBA staff enjoying time face-to-face time with Premier Members. (From left to right_ Jennifer Vassil, Lucy Green, Edna Preuss, Trish Ehlers)

T-Mobile’s Sean Alpert, AFL’s Sèan Adam and Go!Foton’s Michael Zammit enjoy dinner conversation at the Premier Member Meeting.

FBA’s Gary Bolton & On Trac’s Mike Hill present Telepex’s Gregg Logan with a plaque to honor his service on the Board of Directors and in appreciation for his outstanding contributions.

Clayton Dowell from Bristol Tennessee Essential Services and Joseph “JJ” Jones, FBA Board Treasurer and Executive Vice President at On Trac, Inc., enjoy Premier Members’ company at the December meeting’s welcome dinner.

Mark Boxer, FBA Board Member & Technical Manager of Solutions and Applications Engineering at OFS, and David Krauss, Principal Network Architect at Ciena, enjoy a networking reception at the Premier Member Meeting in Washington, D.C.

FBA OpTIC™ Launch Opens Workforce Options

By Doug Mohney

Up to 25,000 new jobs will potentially be created over the next five years to meet service providers demands for fiber installation and maintenance personnel, according to Fiber Broadband Association Vice President of Research and Workforce Development Deborah Kish.

“Vermont could fill at least 200 field positions right now,” Kish said. “There are job opportunities today, the service providers just don’t have the skilled workers yet. Add in all the funding coming in through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, NTIA BEAD program, USDA ReConnect, and state monies, there’s a lot going on today and more tomorrow.”

With an ongoing need for fiber optic technicians on the traditional home and business network rollouts, as well as on the wireless side with 5G and small cell densification, there will be plenty of openings for employment on new builds and established networks, Kish said. “You are going

to have a cycle of different projects going on with a certain percentage of new builds connecting rural areas and other greenfield opportunities. On the other side, there will be fiber infrastructure that has been in operation for 10, 15, 20 years that needs to be maintained, repaired and serviced. We anticipate seeing a good amount of attrition as the current fiber installation workforce ages out so it’s critical the industry acts now to ensure that trained technicians are available as needed. We don’t want to put installs on hold.”

Kish is working on filling the need for advanced entrylevel fiber optic technicians who will work with other craft skill positions to build and maintain high-speed fiber broadband networks, including outside plant engineers, cell tower construction firms, and trenching companies. Last year, the Fiber Broadband Association announced its OpTIC™ (Optical Telecom Installation Certification) course and is in the process of launching the first set of classes at technical and community colleges around the country.

Fiber Broadband Association’s OpTIC training program will help create the skilled workforce needed to close the Digital Equity Gap.

Source: Adobe Stock.

The FBA OpTIC™ course is designed to develop the mixture of classroom and hands-on skills required for entry-level success as a fiber optic technician. Graduates of the course will be able to install, test, and troubleshoot components to completed systems, including at subscriber FTTH locations. The 144-hour certification is split between classroom instruction and hands-on learning, covering the fundamental principles of how to properly install, test, and maintain FTTX networks. The FBA recommends eight to twelve students per class, providing the ability for students to get sufficient craft time in the classroom preparing and splicing fiber, connecting fiber optic terminals, and testing all the elements necessary for a broadband connection.

“The point of OpTIC™ is to provide advanced entry-level training that includes hands-on skill work,” Kish said. “Companies will benefit by hiring people who have experience working with physical media, who have actually touched fiber, identified a break, done some trouble shooting. If the entry-level fiber optical technician was certified through an online program and hasn’t worked with fiber, they’re going to need more handholding and instruction the first weeks they are on the job, compared to OpTIC™ graduates who can hit the ground running with some supervision and on the job training.”

Upon satisfactory course completion, graduates will be eligible for the FBA’s OpTIC™ three-year certification, and they will receive one year of complementary FBA membership with access to additional FBA resources and networking opportunities with masters in the field. Successful completion can make participants eligible for an internship or registered U.S. Department of Labor apprenticeship (2,000 hours) with a communications service provider or installation contractor, depending on availability.

Kish points out another advantage of hands-on training is it enables budding fiber optic technicians to get faster exposure to the jobs they might want to specialize in – or find out that they might want to look at other fields in the telecom industry. “You have people who are interested in

the field who think fiber optics is pretty cool,” she said. “But then they start splicing discover that they don’t have the dexterity or patience needed and they might want to go in a different direction. Others could find they like splicing, testing, or troubleshooting. Or they prefer working with and talking to customers and migrate more toward turning up service at the home.”

Schools running the OpTIC™ program are working with FBA and local employers to make sure graduates and service providers get what they need. “We have commitment letters from service providers to hire OpTIC™ graduates,” Kish said. “For example, Greenlight in Wilson, North Carolina stated that it will hire one or two FBA OpTIC™certified technicians to work on their network. The community college system in Mississippi is working with C-Spire and a couple of other service providers in the state to get graduates placed, and those service providers need a steady stream of technicians.”

Content for the course was developed by the FBA, who is partnering with community and technical colleges and Veteran programs nationwide for delivery. The FBA is in discussion with organizations in 24 states to expand OpTIC™ training nationwide. “We have five schools that are ready to hit the ‘GO’ button,” Kish stated. “We’re hoping for at least 200 graduates this first year.”

“Fiber optic technicians encompass a lot of different roles,” Kish explained. “You can have splicers, testers, troubleshooting, home installation, outside plant. One employer can hire four people to do those different things, with the opportunity for techs to specialize in a specific job if they want.” “The career opportunities are endless in this industry.” Kish continued. “From field operations to marketing to sales in service providers and vendors, I can think of a multitude of long-terms careers alone.”

During Fiber Connect 2022, the FBA is offering a Train the Trainer program for people interested in becoming instructors on the OpTIC™ training course. More information can be found at https://www.fiberbroadband.org/page fba-optic-optical-telecom-installation-certification.

TRAIN THE TRAINER AT FIBER CONNECT

FBA is actively ramping up the OpTIC™ program availability, which is taught by the combination of community/veterans’ colleges and telecommunications/internet service providers/contractors across the country.

The Fiber Broadband Association is dedicated to Workforce Development and lling the skills gap that will help accelerate ber deployments across North America. The ber broadband ecosystem is looking to ll these much-needed positions. Join the initiative in improving the unemployment rate, building careers, bringing economic value to communities, and providing the societal bene ts that only ber can provide.

Do you have experience with Fiber Optic communications and want to teach others? We have an opportunity for you to become an FBA OpTIC™ Course Trainer!

LATAM Chapter Develops New Training and Certification Program

By Edna Preuss

The fiber optics industry in Latin America has shown fast-paced growth during the past couple of years. More than ever, operators in the region are focused on full fiber networks to sustain the continuous increase in traffic. Governments are very involved in accelerating broadband deployment, putting in place digital agendas and national broadband plans to accelerate fiber-based network deployments. However, the shortage of qualified professionals to install and maintain equipment is hindering operator growth.

Aware of the challenges in the region and aligned with our mission, the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) LATAM Chapter is updating and restructuring its Training and Certification program. LATAM promotes fiber deployment, using the knowledge of the members of the chapter to support operators in their strategy of technological evolution and accelerating the adoption of fiber

technology in the region. We understand the importance of supporting the industry, preparing professionals with the most up-to-date knowledge, in their language, understanding the region’s reality and need, providing a high-quality program at an adjusted cost based on the current social economic situation.

The restructuring of the certification programs has been led by the Operations and Technical Committees and supported by our valuable members, the experts in the industry. The programs focus on technology and concepts, not on specific products or solutions represented by a vendor, is extremely important to maintain credibility and education focus. We extend a big thank you to all our members collaborating with the updated content of the program.

The new program is shown in the following diagram:

Introductory Course

FCFF (FBA Certified Fiber Fundamentals)

A starter course for those who want to acquire or improve their knowledge within the industry. It will address the principles and fundamentals of fiber optics/PON and its importance in the new generation of communications networks.

FBA Installer & Maintenance

Certified

This training path is focused on installation of passive elements for FTTx access optical networks in general, as well as the handling of optical instruments, evaluation, and the criteria for the selection of equipment for the operation and maintenance of PON networks. In addition, it provides an experienced field technician overview in the choice of materials, installation and acceptance protocols for drop network, and general testing for customer activation.

To complete the FBA Installer & Maintenance Certified track, one must successfully pass the following programs:

FCFE (FBA Certified Field Expert)

The FCPE is focused on developing knowledge in the installation of passive elements of FTTx access optical networks (external plant), as well as the evaluation and main criteria for choosing elements of a system and their acceptance protocols.

FCOE (FBA Certified Field Operations Expert)

Training for those who want to learn about the operation of optical instruments for detecting faults in FTTx access optical networks, as well as the evaluation and main criteria for selecting equipment for operation and maintenance.

FCPI (FBA Certified Premises Installer)

Instruction for those who want to develop expertise in the

FBA Architect Certified

This set of certifications is focused on the design, dimensioning, documentation, drawings, and specifications for the construction of passive optical networks, from the headend through the distribution network and including passive optical LAN networks. To complete the FBA Architect Certified track, the following programs must be completed:

FCPD (FBA Certified Project Designer)

Created for professionals who want to acquire knowledge in the architecture, design and dimensioning of FTTx optical access networks, as well as the evaluation and criteria for choosing elements of a system.

FHEA (FBA Headend Edge Certified Architect)

A course focused on data center network architectures applied to FTTx access networks (micro DC/DC Container/ Edge DC), as well as basic guidelines for their architecture and design.

FPOLD (FBA Passive Optical Network Designer)

Created for learning about the architecture, design, and dimensioning of PONLAN optical networks, as well as the evaluation and main selection criteria of the system elements.

FBA Expert Certified

In addition to FBA Installer & Maintenance Certified, FCPD (FBA Certified Project Designer) and FHEA (FBA Headend Edge Architect Certified) completion, this requires the addition of:

FCBE (FBA Certified Business Expert)

This course focuses on teaching business knowledge in the telecommunications industry, monetization of investments in different services, as well as the basic principles and methods of calculating CAPEX/OPEX and business plan for the successful implementation of an FTTx project.

FiberBreakfast

Fiber Network Supply Chain Myths and Facts

By Doug Mohney

Anyone who has gone into a grocery store or has tried to buy a new car knows that the pandemic has created supply chain issues across every sector of every industry. The telecommunications industry is no exception to these challenges. Supply chain firms and analysts do not predict any near-term relief on supply chain issues, with many components for fiber broadband projects in short supply. The Fiber Broadband Association and its partners are working on remedies to alleviate current pain points in a number of areas, but it will take time.

“We don’t have a fiber supply issue,” says Gary Bolton, President and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA). “We have a demand issue. In 2021 our domestic fiber manufacturers produced 109M miles of fiber and we had 72M miles of US fiber demand, yielded a fiber surplus of 34% (37M mile of fiber), that was exported. In addition, our domestic fiber manufacturers have announced $300M in plant and capacity expansions to address the upcoming surge in fiber broadband deployment associated with the IIJA broadband infrastructure investment and other major initiatives. The demand issue arises from hoarding and over forecasting, as some service providers place multiple forecasts with suppliers as a hedge.”

“Despite the significant uptick in manufacturing, it can be very challenging to get fiber if you don’t plan accordingly. There are major lead times in the industry,” said Scott Jackson, Chair of the newly formed FBA Supply Chain Committee, FBA Board of Directors member and Graybar National Market Manager, Broadband. “Fiber can have 50 plus week lead times in some scenarios, and there are also various lead times for the consumables that help you hang or bury the fiber. Often, you must plan out a year to two years in advance at this particular point in time due to supply chain issues.”

Graybar, a Fortune 500 company, specializes in supply chain management services and supports the construction, commercial, institution, and government, and the industrial and utility market verticals, allowing it to develop critical and deep insights on shortages affecting the availability of products necessary for a fiber project.

“According to a study conducted by RVA on behalf of the

FBA, it will be 18 months before fiber supply constraints abate,” Jackson said, “It will be 12 months before the optical electronics chip set constraints abate. You need to plan around those scenarios. “But supply chain challenges extend beyond fiber and chipsets that are impacting projects. “Anything that has steel or resin components will be in short supply,” Jackson said, with delivery times of 12 to 20 weeks. Steel components are used in aerial and underground construction. Resin is the key component in the jacketing cable for the actual glass fiber, underground components and the weather-proof containers for ONTs that go on the sides of homes and other installations.

Organizations embarking on fiber projects need to understand how supply chains affect them and their suppliers and service providers, stated a recent “Fiber for Breakfast” speaker.

Source

Managing the challenges of supply and demand is a puzzle FBA is focused on helping its members solve.

: Adobe Stock.

“At one time, the supply chain was pretty easy to identify. Everything was produced locally,” said Finley Engineering Company Vice President, Dean Mischke, P.E. “Fast forward to today and it has become almost impossible to track where everything comes from, from its original raw resources, through every process, for every step through every transportation leg, every hand that’s touched it until it finally arrives at your doorstep.”

Mischke said companies need a long-term strategic plan for supply chain management, able to forecast material needs and look forward. “If you’re looking at simply planning for next year, that’s probably a little short,” he said. “You need to be looking beyond next year and start setting up a much larger five-year plan with specific goals and elements in mind.”

Workforce management is also a concern in the larger supply chain picture, with a lack of workers affecting the ability of companies to build goods and provide services. Mischke sees hiring and retention affected by three different trends as companies try to fill positions, as employees leave or want to stay home rather than go to a traditional office. First, Boomers are reaching the end of their careers but “COVID kind of took the fun out of it,” he said. Next, parents who stayed home with their children during lockdown realized “it’s really not so bad to be involved in your kid’s life and actually watching the progress move forward.”

Third, the newest generation of employees are finding out that work “really wasn’t what they thought it would be,” Mischke said. “The problems are harder than they were in school. It’s not a free flow, do as you want environment.” Instead of rushing to the stress of full-time employment, Gen Zers are taking a break, traveling or “learning how to be the next social media star.”

“The Fiber Broadband Assocation saw the market confusion with the fiber supply chain and realized that we needed to dig deep beyond the macro level to pinpoint the specific pain points,” said Gary Bolton

Established as an outcome of the December 2021 FBA Premier Members meeting, the FBA Supply Chain committee group is tasked with developing a detailed map of the fiber industry supply chain to educate its members and help focus on the specific bottlenecks that are impacting fiber deployment. Given the strategic importance of ensuring supply chain issues do not derail the fiber deployment, the work this committee has undertaken is of critical importance to the FBA, its members, and the industry.

“We’ve put together a great working group of 2 network operators, 2 manufacturers, a contractor and distributor. It will get perspective on the supply chain from a representative group of industry stakeholders.” Jackson stated.

One of the areas particularly concerning FBA members is the need for technicians to install and maintain fiber optics plant. Up to 25,000 new jobs will be created over the next five years to meet service provider demands for fiber installation and maintenance personnel. Launching this year, the FBA OpTIC™ course is a 144hour certification program using a mix of classroom and hands-on training to develop the skills required for an entry-level fiber optic technician.

Starting its first classes in March, the FBA OpTIC™ course is set to roll out nationwide through community and technical colleges and Veteran programs.

“As the pandemic created a global shift to work-fromhome, online education and remote healthcare, we immediately realized that our industry was going to have a shortage of skilled, highly trained Fiber Optic technicians so the Fiber Broadband Association took immediate action. Under the leadership of Mark Boxer of OFS and FBA board member and the FBA education committee, we began development of the industry’s most comprehensive training and workforce development program. We achieved our US Department of Labor accreditation in July, and we are now launching nationwide in advance of historic broadband infrastructure funding,” said Gary Bolton.

Provider Funds High Cost of Rural Fiber Build by Thinking Outside the Box

By Stephen V. Smith, VP, Broadband Strategies & Special Projects for Pioneer Utility Resources

Building fiber to rural communities can pose a significant financial challenge. One Alabama cooperative found a solution — and brought fiber to an even wider region — by taking a creative approach to funding its network expansion.

In 2007, the board of trustees and management of Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative (FTC) in Rainsville, Ala., understood that having a world-class broadband network was key to economic development, and that fiber was the best infrastructure on which to build that future. However, estimates showed that the economics would only support building fiber to about 72% of FTC’s service area. To reach the remaining 28% would cost roughly the same as the entire first phase.

“For cooperative operators, that’s a tough call to make,” says Fred Johnson, CEO of FTC. “It was, to the best of my knowledge, the first and only time this cooperative has made a decision to do anything for a large portion of the membership that it didn’t know it could ultimately do for all the membership.”

FTC’s leaders decided to deploy fiber to the more densely populated cities nearby to generate cash to invest back into its incumbent territory. This proved financially sound, even beyond FTC’s initial projections.

Explaining that approach to members waiting on fiber, however, was a challenge. “We wanted to look our members eyeball to eyeball and say, ‘The returns we’re gaining from outside the cooperative territory are funding the expansion to you, so you don’t have to pay it out of your pocket,’” says Johnson. “Most rational people understood that, even if they were sometimes frustrated by how long it took.”

FTC offers additional lessons learned for providers considering an expansion into competitive areas to fund the more costly portions of their home territory:

• The phrase “If you build it, they will come” is pure fantasy. There are too many competitors, and too many substitute (albeit inferior) products available to consumers.

• Be intentional in how you expand. Fund the backbone

and expand off that as demand supports it.

• Provide a high-quality product and quality service, and you will outdo your competitors — especially in core key and business markets.

• Invest heavily in providing redundant and resilient connections to the internet backbone

• Understand that traditional utility models (electric power, water, gas, sewer) do not work in the broadband space. Broadband is simply too competitive.

For companies looking to enter the broadband business for the first time, Johnson has a word of caution: customers will judge the quality of your network according to their ability to connect to it inside their home. “If you’re not prepared to support that from a customer service standpoint, both interpersonally and technically, then you’re not prepared to be in the broadband industry,” Johnson says. “Because that’s what you’re going to have to do, and people need to really understand that.”

FTC ribbon-cutting ceremony in the city of Albertville, Alabama, in May 2017 as part of its fiber launch into Marshall County. Left of the ribbon is Fred Johnson CEO of FTC, to the right is Albertville Mayor Tracy. Source FTC

Crews Working to Build Its Fiber Network. Source FTC

2022 Editorial Calendar

Grab your spot now in our remaining 2022 Fiber Forward issues!

Contact Lucy Green at lgreen@fiberbroadband.org for sponsorship opportunities. Please note editorial topics may be subject to change based on future events and market shifts.

June 2022

Fiber Connect Pre-Conference Issue

Materials due April 29, 2022

• Lighting the Way - Leading Women in the Fiber Broadband Industry

• Fiber Broadband by the Numbers: Analyst Research Summary

• Future Forward - Anticipating Growth and Needs for the Next Decade and Beyond, including: Measure Twice, Dig Once - How Much FIber Do You Need?; Dark Fiber = Green Fiber; Increasing Installation Speed; and 25G to 100G

• Executive Insights | Federal/State Update | Community Profiles | Innovation at Work

September 2022

Materials due August 19, 2022

• Beyond Broadband - Applications for Growth, including: IoT; Smart Home; Smart City to Smart Township; Smart Grid; Precision Agriculture; and Smart Construction

• Fiber Connect 2022 Wrap Up

• Proof of Concept - What We Learned in Nashville

• Executive Insights | Federal/State Update | Community Profiles | Innovation at Work

November 2022

Materials due October 19, 2022

• Progress Report - Where Are We with $65 Billion?

• Broadband for Good, including: Decreasing the Digital Divide; Telehealth/Telemedicine; and Public Safety

• Executive Insights | Federal/State Update | Community Profiles | Innovation at Work

GIS Data: Keep it Smart and Keep it Alive!

By Barak Harlan, Sr Systems Engineer and Jake Webb, GIS Manager, CHR Solutions

Geographic Information Systems provide a data framework to manage, visualize, analyze, and understand the significance of spatial information. GIS helps businesses gain actionable insight by integrating all types of data.

GIS data is used for engineering, design, and deployment of a fiber optic network, and it has significant value for its use in operational applications. Once the build is complete, service providers will too often let this information go stale without ever finding an active use for it.

It cannot be overstated that accurate and up-to-date mapping can be critical to nearly every element of a fiber broadband deployment, from network maintenance to emergency response and budget forecasting. Furthermore, the engineering and construction process offers up a wealth of valuable data you can continue to use well beyond the initial deployment.

Let’s take a look at three great opportunities for using the power of smart GIS data.

1. Improve operational efficiency. GIS data can help technicians manage their work and truck rolls. Using a tablet, technicians can access information about facilities, fiber to the home and everything in between, including physical wire and access points, as well as customer information. They’re able to expand their view of all the different facilities that the fiber rides from the central office to the home.

Instead of having a paper map or a CAD map to reference for each visit, technicians are able to access a map with live data via their tablet or smart

phone to explore the network in depth without having to worry about whether they have the right sheet of paper or the correct information.

Equally important, the technician can make necessary changes to the configuration or equipment immediately, keeping the information alive and updated, resulting in an accurate map detailing what actually transpired.

2. Improve communication with subscribers and prospects. With GIS data, carriers can share outage information, construction activities, and new service offering information via a map. Pre-marketing a new service or showing heat maps of pre-subscriptions as neighboring subscribers sign up are also possibilities.

3. Monitor OPEX and CAPEX. As assets are installed, the Finance Manager can look to see how much money has been spent and monitor the budget of the project. The GIS data can also be used to update Continuing Property Records (CPRs) which need to be reported on what is actually being built and used, with information that is resident within the map and accessible by a simple query.

Broadband providers aspire to bring fast and reliable service to their customers. Taking your GIS data to the next level allows you to visualize your assets and their value, streamline and track each phase of your network implementation, improve decisions by using real-time data, and subsequently optimize your current and future broadband operation.

Fast and reliable? Mission accomplished.

Visualizing your smart GIS data allows you to improve operations well beyond the initial network build. Source: CHR Solutions

Continued from page 37

product with steel or resin. Lead times for fiber at press time could be anywhere from 50 to 80 weeks out. Resin is the key component in making everything from cable jacketing to the outside shells of ONTs. Jackson credits three keys to being able to deliver Pharr’s many bits and pieces on schedule and on budget for the 12 months build timetable. “The first is planning,” he said. “You have to plan a year or two in advance with your suppliers at this particular point in time due to supply chain issues. You need to make commitments, locking in so fiber and the hardware are available when you need it. Finally, it’s a partnership of loyalty with all parties, especially between network operator and distributor, so commitments can be made for the supply. You need to know the distributor that keeps stock on hand in these challenging times and they need to know you.”

Broadband pricing for Pharr residents will be extremely attractive, and even more so (at zero) if there are students in the household. “The services are very low cost, $25 for 500 Mbps and $50 for a gigabit to your house,” Peña said. “We’re not a revenue generating organization, we don’t have stockholders, we’re not doing this for profit. Any excess revenues that exceed operational expenses will go into the general fund. This will help pave streets, hire more police officers and firefighters. It’s a reinvestment into the community.”

While offering fiber broadband services for free sounds

luxurious, stop-gap alternatives cost the school districts more money and are much less effective. “Due to COVID, they all had to get MiFis and hotspots,” Peña said. “For the same cost they’re paying to Verizon or T-Mobile, the hotspot was inadequate with limited data or the household has three to five kids sharing one or two hotspots. That doesn’t work.”

As of publication, Pharr’s first of three deployment phases, South network construction, was 50 to 60 percent completed with the city issuing purchase approval for splitters and cabinets to deploy to the street level and begin last mile installations. The city will start turning up customers in the southern portion of town then move upward to the central and north areas. Peña said the city already has over 1,400 households signed up through word of mouth and will be rolling out a promotional campaign offering the first month of service free for anyone who signs up by the end of February.

“We came together and acted in a proactive, progressive and forward-thinking manner to provide a unique solution to keep our community and our residents ahead of the curve and able to access fast, reliable and affordable Internet services as a basic city service,” said Hernandez.

FBA Membership Report Q1 2022

By Trish Ehlers, Vice President - Membership, Industry Affairs & Operations

This quote perfectly sums up what we’ve continued to see in FBA membership for the first quarter of 2022 –leadership and staff working with our vendor and network operator partners to focus on three specific areas: targeted growth, retention of existing members, and increased involvement of member companies.

FBA has continued to see outstanding growth in 1Q 2022, with an increase of 24% in total member companies from the same period in 2021. That growth includes an over 30% increase in Premier members since 2021 and the addition of almost all Tier 1 network operators in the U.S. – quite an accomplishment in a very short time. The organization continues to show strong growth in other membership categories as well, with 52% of our overall membership in the network operator category.

The Membership team has begun a targeted focus on retention of existing members. This effort was begun in 3Q 2021 and has already seen considerable success, with each member company that approaches their membership termination date receiving personal outreach by FBA staff. These efforts have already resulted in a reduction of over one-half of all non-renewals. An annual audit of our membership will now take place in 1Q of each year, ensuring we have the correct billing and main contacts for each member company, as well as confirming the company is in the correct membership category.

Finally, the easiest way to guarantee our members remain in FBA is to make sure they are active and involved in the organization. The best way to do this is to get them engaged from the start, using our huge library of resources, attending our events, and becoming key players in the many committees and working groups available. To facilitate this, the FBA staff has instituted virtual “orientation sessions” with new member companies to walk their employees through how to set up their profiles, access research and webinars, and jump into committee work.

One example of how this approach works is MetroNet, the nation’s largest independently owned, 100 percent fiber optic company headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. The service provider joined FBA mid-year 2021 and has been engaging with FBA since becoming a member.

“MetroNet couldn’t be happier with the decision to join the Fiber Broadband Association,” Keith Leonhardt, the company’s Vice President of Customer Experience, Market Development, and Public Relations said. “In just our first few months of membership, many of our associates have taken advantage of FBA’s comprehensive resources. We’re attending Fiber for Breakfast, researching important issues in the Resource Library, growing a group of Women in Fiber members, and planning for our participation in this year’s Fiber Connect. Their team is always responsive and eager to help make connections. We’re looking forward to benefitting from our involvement in the months and years to come.”

Need we say more? For additional information on joining FBA or participating in activities as a member, please contact Trish Ehlers at tehlers@fiberbroadband.org or Jennifer Vassil at jvassil@fiberbroadband.org

Enjoy the many benefits of FBA membership by joining today. Source: FBA

“Growth is never by chance; it is the result of forces working together”

– James Cash Penney

Got Broadband Funding? Now What?

By Jerry Golden, Co-founder and EVP, 3-GIS and Ashlee Hornbuckle, Product Marketing Manager, 3-GIS

In November 2021, the US Federal Government passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) allocating $65 billion1 toward the expansion and affordability of broadband coverage–the largest sum set aside by the government for internet improvement initiatives to date—adding market opportunities for service providers in both the private and public sectors. Below are three considerations for service providers starting on a grantfunded broadband project.

Always be cognizant of grant guidelines. Grants awarded for broadband expansion typically have stipulations controlling use. If these stipulations are not met, a refund may be demanded. Remember:

Grant money does not last forever. Timeliness is crucial. Buildout progress must be made within a certain timeframe, whether or not factors are in one’s control. Companies are seeing increased delays in receiving materials due to supply chain issues, with some spending most of their grant window waiting on the arrival of needed assets. Labor shortages are also of great concern to smaller providers.2 The sooner you know what is needed to complete a buildout, the sooner orders can be placed and hiring initiated.

Along the same lines, having consistent data outputs can aid in decreasing permitting windows. If a permit is not approved the first time, all or a portion of the process may require repeating, which can add an extra 3 to 4 months to the buildout.

Grant money may cover only certain expenses. The market is becoming increasingly crowded. Fiber

broadband now passes over 60.5 million US homes, a growth of 12% in 2021.2 Building out to customers who exceed a minimum requirement, for example, the FCC’s baseline of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps3, may break the terms of your agreement.

Analyze the market.

As you grow your business, keep in mind opportunities outside the grant initiative. Commercially available GIS data provides a plethora of market information for analysis. Not only can GIS data be used to understand proximity to your current network (i.e., all businesses the backbone passes), but it can be a key component in understanding take rates that can aid in validating proposed expansions and building marketing strategies.

Capture good data upfront.

Undeniably, keeping track of project spending is a must. However, understanding what assets will be deployed and how they work together to service end users provides more complete reporting to stakeholders. Additionally, those seeking to become acquired by a larger provider look more promising as prospects when able to present accurate records of owned assets.

In summary, with more funding allocated to the expansion of broadband services in the US than ever before, emerging market players have a unique opportunity to compete in a space dominated by Tier 1 and Tier 2 providers. However, this opportunity does not come without its challenges. By following the considerations highlighted above, service providers can create a solid foundation upon which to accelerate deployments.

What you need to know before construction with broadband funding. Source: Adobe Stock

FBA 2022 Event Calendar

Fiber Connect 2022 Conference & Expo

June 12–15, 2022

Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, Nashville, TN www.fiberconnect2022.org

FBA Premier Member Meeting

December 5-6, 2022

Clearwater, FL

Regional Fiber Connect Workshops

March 23, 2022

Crowne Plaza Executive Center, Baton Rouge, LA www.fbaevent.org/batonrouge

April 19, 2022

The Omni Providence Hotel, Providence, RI www.fbaevent.org/providence

August 24, 2022

Copper Mountain, CO

November 3, 2022

Columbus, OH

OpTIC™ Train the Trainer Sessions

March 23-24, 2022

Collocated with Regional Fiber Connect Workshop in Baton Rouge, LA www.fbaevent.org/batonrouge

June 12–15, 2022

Collocated with Fiber Connect 2022 in Nashville, TN www.fiberconnect2022.org

Fiber Connect LATAM Events

Email latamchapter@fiberbroadband.org for more information.

July 11 –12, 2022

Intercontinental, San Jose, Costa Rica

November 8-9, 2022

Bogota, Colombia

Enabling the Lifestyle that Better Broadband Provides

DOUBLING Your Rate of Fiber Homes Passed is a Matter of TIME

Surpassing your deployment milestones by doubling the rate of your PON cabinet deployments is possible. Clearfield® customers do it every day with modular, building block architectures using incassette splicing.

No Splice Case. No Vault. No Inventory Management.

Splicing inside the Clearview® Cassette will:

• Cut in half the time to place a cabinet

• Minimize your labor costs

• Reduce operational/maintenance costs

Accelerating deployments means accelerated subscriber revenues and improved service turn-up time. Clearfield can show you how. Ask us today.