Brightspeed has expanded its original goal to reach four million homes and businesses, announcing this week its new corporate goal of five million connections. At the same time, the company announced that its multi-gig-speed network is now available to more than two million of those potential customers.
Along with its investment in its fiber network, Brightspeed has received more than $240 million in local, state, and federal broadband grants and funding, including the company’s first Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program award from the state of Louisiana. These investments will help expand Brightspeed’s planned network build by nearly 121,000 locations in 14 states.
“Not only did we exceed our 2024 year-end fiber network build goal, but just three months into 2025, we have achieved another critical company milestone and delivered our state-of-the-art network to 2 million addresses,” Brightspeed CEO Tom Maguire said in a prepared statement.
“Our well-planned execution of our multi-billion-dollar investment in transforming our telecommunications network has gained momentum. With the speed and efficiency of our deployment, we’re on track to exceed our original goal of four million locations and are now setting our sights even higher — expanding our reach to more than five million locations across our 20-state footprint.”
Recent broadband awards from North Carolina will help Brightspeed reach its goal. The company was among the firms awarded broadband grants this week, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein announced. The funding is part of the state’s Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program. This round of funding will connect 10,810 homes and businesses to high-speed broadband in 14 North Carolina counties.
These North Carolina broadband projects will be funded with $22.1 million from the state’s American Rescue Plan funds and an additional $9.6 million from the broadband providers selected for grants.
