Brightspeed, which will be created once the agreed upon sale of Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) ILEC assets to Apollo-managed funds (NYSE: APO) closes (see “Brightspeed launches, builds fiber network toward U.S. rural, suburban communities”), has released its plans for fiber to the premises (FTTP) in South Carolina. The company says it will deploy create up to 14,000 new passings in Beaufort County by the end of next year during the first phase of its FTTP and another 36,000 fiber passings in the state in the future.
"Expanding access to faster, more reliable, and user-friendly internet is our number one priority," said Sherry Hessenthaler, operations strategy lead for Brightspeed. "High-quality broadband has never been more important, whether for work, education, telemedicine, entertainment, or simply staying connected. We are ready to hit the ground running with our deployment in Beaufort County and are looking forward to introducing customers to our state-of-the-art Brightspeed products and services."
Brightspeed will operate in 20 states; the company says it will invest at least $2 billion to expand its FTTP footprint in those markets. Plans have been announced for Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The FTTP infrastructure will leverage XGS-PON to enable the provision of multi-gigabit internet complemented with Wi-Fi 6 in the home.
Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director & Associate Publisher
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, DOCSIS technology, and more.