Gary Bolton, CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, kicked off the Fiber Connect 2025 conference in Nashville this morning by pointing out two sides of the same coin: fiber internet connectivity has made great strides in recent decades, even though the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program is not progressing as quickly as hoped.
The theme for this year’s Fiber Connect conference — “Light It Up” — was chosen based on the idea that, by the time of this conference, BEAD funds would have lit up the first communities in the country with fiber, he said.
During the conference’s opening general session, Bolton promoted and showed multiple clips from Thought Waves, a film created by the Fiber Broadband Association. The film focuses on a big-picture view of internet expansion around the country and emphasizes the accomplishments to date.
He also listed several providers and the number of fiber connections they have created, or will in the coming years:
- AT&T: 50 million connections by 2030
- Frontier: 10 million connections by the end of 2025
- Verizon and Frontier together: 40 million connections
- Hawaiian Telcom: $1.7 billion invested to connect every home in Hawaii with fiber by 2026
- T-Mobile: 12-15 million connections by 2030
- Ziply: 3.1 million connections by 2029
- Altice: 3+ million connections to date
- Consolidated Communications: 2.1 million connections
- TDS: 1.3 million connections by 2029
- GFiber: 1 million connections by 2026
Bolton’s introduction to Fiber Connect wasn’t all celebration, though. He came out strongly against rumored changes to the BEAD Program that may allow low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband companies to provide connectivity where, in Bolton’s view, fiber should be used.
“Louisiana, Nevada, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, [and] Maine have waited months to put shovels in the ground,” Bolton said. “NTIA stiff-armed them and gave them a 90-day extension, but some states are being asked to remove fiber locations — with fiber rewards — to make room for LEO satellites. This is more than disappointing; this is unacceptable.”
Bolton made the case that the federal government should not interfere with the progress BEAD has made so far, particularly regarding the BEAD preference for fiber.
Senator Blackburn Addresses Fiber Connect
Later in the opening session, Marsha Blackburn — the senior senator from Tennessee and a Republican — was interviewed on the conference stage by Fiber Broadband Association Vice President of Government and Community Relations Evann Freeman. Blackburn began by describing the U.S. Commerce Department’s focus on releasing spectrum auctions, which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is also addressing.
Regarding infrastructure development in the U.S., Blackburn said, “Number one on the list is access to high-speed internet” because of the opportunities it creates.
Blackburn said the Trump administration wants to create “shot clocks” for various actions, including permitting related to broadband expansion. The shot clock is a time limit, so that, for example, when a permit application is submitted to an agency, “That agency has a designated amount of time to take action,” and, if they do not act within that time, the permit is automatically approved.
Freeman did not ask Blackburn about the progress of BEAD or issues around fiber vs. satellite broadband.
Fiber Broadband and Remote Locations
Kathryn de Wit, project director for broadband access with Pew Charitable Trusts, led a panel called “Long and Winding Road: Bringing Fiber to the Most Remote Locations on Earth.”
The panel featured four panelists from Maine, Texas, Washington, and Hawaii:
Andrew Butcher, president of the Maine Connectivity Authority, discussed Maine’s unique challenges due to its “rurality” — a large landmass with many islands off the coast and several rural, remote areas. He described the need for barges and planes as providers deploy fiber to coastal islands.
Bill Hetherington, CEO of Bandera Electric Cooperative in Texas, stressed that Bandera is focused on fiber technology. He talked about the challenge of keeping a herd of giraffes, kept by a local landowner, from eating the company’s aerial fiber cables. More seriously, he said that some communities in western and south-central Texas may no longer exist without broadband access.
Donna Hilty, COO of Whidbey Telecom, talked about Point Roberts, a U.S. region on the southern end of British Columbia’s Tsawwassen peninsula. Whidbey’s fiber is 100% buried, so their build stalled when digging revealed a site of historical and archaeological interest. They will continue the project using aerial fiber, a first for the provider.
Jason Thune, vice president for fiber strategy and development for Hawaiian Telcom, talked about bringing fiber to Molo’kai, an island of 3,000 people. The project involved bringing a fiber container from the U.S. West Coast. Some of the rural locations are down a one-lane road. He said the take rate is well above 50%.
Last year, Hawaiian Telcom pledged to connect every home in Hawaii to fiber by the end of 2026, with support from the state’s BEAD Program funding.
