Brightspeed begins FTTH deployment countdown

April 4, 2022

Brightspeed, which will be formed from Lumen’s former ILEC assets, says it’s at the starting line of its fiber to the premises (FTTP) deployment, even though the transaction that will create it hasn’t closed.

Stephen Hardy

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Brightspeed, which will be formed from Lumen’s former ILEC assets (see “Former Lumen ILEC operations rebrand as Brightspeed, reveal FTTH ambitions”), says it’s at the starting line of its fiber to the premises (FTTP) deployment, even though the transaction that will create it hasn’t closed. With an eye towards delivering services over a new infrastructure in the third quarter of this year, the company will launch its FTTP deployment in North Carolina, the state in which it has its headquarters. Brightspeed says it expects to deploy fiber across its 20-state footprint.

Brightspeed says it will spend more than $2 billion over the next five years to pass up to 3 million homes and businesses with FTTP. The company will rely on what it calls “a suite of fiber-based Optical Distribution Network (ODN) technologies and integrated software that will leverage an innovative distributed tap (access point) product solution” that will enable it to deploy its network faster than conventional centralized split architectures.

Four companies will serve as major deployment partners:

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) will supply its Evolv terminals and Pushlok connectors
Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX) will offer its cloud platforms and 10G XGS-PON systems
Dycom Industries Inc. (NYSE: DY) will serve as the design and construction partner
IQGeo Group (LSE: IQG) will offer its geospatial software platform to aid network planning, design, construction, and maintenance processes.

"We are thrilled to work with this stellar team of partners who understand our mission," commented Tom Maguire, COO of Brightspeed. "The deployment in North Carolina is another milestone for Brightspeed as we prep for our standalone business. This is the first time many of these technologies will be deployed at scale in the U.S., and we are both energized and humbled to serve as a technological pioneer in our industry."

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

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, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.