A fiber broadband investment forecast from RVA Market Research and Consulting calls for 100 million new fiber passings over the “next ten years or so.” The firm says that investment in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) from this year to 2027 will be $135 billion.
RVA notes that 63 million homes have fiber broadband available now, including about 5 million that have two or more fiber services available. The additional 100 million passings will include primary homes, homes being passed by two or more providers and second homes and short term rental properties.
The total investment figure exceeds the total that has been made in FTTH made to date. Construction rates are expected to continue to grow despite reductions that have been announced by some providers this year.
Part of the analysis for the projections was made by online surveys of 3,500 consumers done in partnership with the Fiber Broadband Association.
“There are many underlying drivers for the unprecedented build cycle highlighted by the report’s new data and research,” RVA CEO Michael Render said in a press release about the fiber broadband invesstment forecast. “Perhaps most importantly, consumers respond to and churn towards fiber providers whenever fiber is available.”
RVA has significantly increased its projections from similar research it conducted two years ago. In March, 2021, the firm said that more than $60 billion would be invested in FTTH initiatives during the subsequent five years. It should be noted that the earlier estimates were made before the great investments in broadband caused by the COVID-19 pandemic became evident, including unprecedented government funding that has been made available for deployments in unserved rural areas.
