WOW! goes private in $1.5B deal with Digital Bridge Group and Crestview Partners
The deal is expected to close sometime in the first quarter of 2026 WOW! aims to continue its ongoing cable upgrades and fiber expansion Crestview is now WOW!’s largest shareholder The dominos just keep on falling with telecom consolidation, with...
Canada mandates broadband operators to provide open access networks
Canada is requiring broadband providers to wholesale their networks to competitors, whether they want to, or not The government says the requirement will increase competition for the benefit of consumers Some of the country’s largest broadband providers are not at...
Lumen counts nearly 1,000 NaaS customers as that business surges
Lumen is tapping into a hot network-as-a-service market with “close to 1,000” customers The company has now inked nearly $9 billion in private connectivity fabric (PCF) deals But it’s still mindful of finances following the sale of its consumer fiber...
How the Big 3 think about their fiber growth strategy
AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon collectively want to deploy fiber to about 119M U.S. locations Each operator is progressing differently with fiber, but AT&T is most ahead so far Here’s what they said in their Q2 earnings calls about fiber strategy...
Zayo Europe to connect German metros with 3,500-km fiber network, built on Ciena tech
Leading network infrastructure provider Zayo Europe has deployed Ciena’s optical technology to launch a new German network covering 3,500 km of fiber across 10 core domestic metros including Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Berlin. The network also extends to an 11th key hub across the border in Strasbourg, France....
Telco M&A shows ‘remarkable’ resilience this year
Telecom M&A defies economic headwinds in 2025, says PwC Aside from the “mega deals,” a lot of smaller M&A moves are happening Private equity rethinks rural fiber bets amid BEAD changes Despite global economic uncertainty and rising interest rates, telecom...
Looming new BEAD rules slash hopes for faster deployment
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a new BEAD funding notice is coming soon States will likely have to redo their grant proposals from scratch BEAD money probably won’t flow until 2026 or later, said New Street’s Blair Levin The wait...
Utopia Fiber finishes Bountiful build despite dark money campaign
Utopia Fiber finishes its open access network in Bountiful, Utah ahead of schedule In the beginning of the project, dark money groups fought it The city of Bountiful owns the network, which it paid for through a bond FIBER CONNECT...
How AI Agents Are Reshaping Network Planning at IQGeo
At this year’s FiberConnect, IQGeo is making waves with the preview of its groundbreaking autonomous network management AI agents. George Hughes, Head of Valley Consulting, shared how these innovations promise to revolutionize how fiber operators approach data quality, network planning,...
Ciena hopes to head under the sea with fiber optic sensing tech
Ciena is a major player in subsea fiber optics Now, the company is exploring the use of fiber optic sensing in subsea scenarios A board member of the Fiber Optic Sensing Association weighs in on the topic You could consider...