Key Highlights
- Shane West, former COO of TDS Telecom, becomes ALLO Fiber's new CEO, starting June 1, 2023.
- West's experience in network operations and customer experience aims to accelerate ALLO's fiber expansion and community engagement.
- Founder Brad Moline shifts focus to leased-network growth, leveraging existing infrastructure and community agreements.
- ALLO continues to expand through partnerships with cities like Lincoln and Boulder, utilizing city-owned fiber and conduits.
- The fiber industry is experiencing significant consolidation, with major players like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile expanding their networks through acquisitions and joint ventures.
ALLO Fiber has named TDS Telecom executive Shane West as its new CEO, replacing founder and current CEO Brad Moline.
Set to assume his post on June 1, West takes the reins of the company from founder Brad Moline, who will continue with ALLO in the role of founder and president of Leased Networks.
In his new role with ALLO, Moline will focus on accelerating growth opportunities through leased-network initiatives. He will also continue to serve on ALLO's Board of Directors and remain actively engaged in supporting ALLO's long-term strategy and growth.
With more than 25 years of experience in telecommunications and deep expertise across network operations, customer experience, and commercial strategy, West is a seasoned executive with the knowledge to advance ALLO’s fiber strategy.
He comes to ALLO from TDS Telecom, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Leading a wireline broadband business that serves over 1.9 million addresses, he led operations with $1 billion in revenue.
What he brings to the role is a track record of managing large-scale network builds, customer experience, and financial performance. He will bring extensive experience managing large, distributed teams and overseeing end-to-end service delivery across diverse markets and communities.
"I look forward to working alongside this impressive team to build on that momentum as we continue expanding the network, deepening our presence in existing markets, and raising the bar for customer experience,” West said.
Leased network focus
Having built a business with presence in 50 communities across Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, and Missouri, Moline will focus on accelerating growth opportunities through leased-network initiatives.
Clinton Karcher, Partner at SDC Capital and Director on ALLO's Board, said he looks “forward to leveraging Brad's entrepreneurial drive in his new role.”
For its part, ALLO has continued to secure agreements with various communities in the territories it serves, leveraging existing town and city infrastructure, including conduits to house its fiber-optic wiring.
This is an approach that ALLO has taken in cities such as Lincoln, Nebraska, and Boulder, Colorado.
In 2019, ALLO entered an agreement with the City of Lincoln to provide broadband, cable television and phone services to every home and business in the community. The service provider leases the final remaining space in the City conduit created as part of the Lincoln Technology Improvement System, which began in 2012 in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and other local business leaders.
Lincoln also assisted ALLO in building the new infrastructure and has created three agreements to govern the construction of the system: a broadband franchise (the first of its kind in Nebraska), a cable franchise and a conduit lease agreement.
Likewise, in Boulder, Colorado, ALLO is leveraging city-owned fiber, aiming to connect 80% of the city by 2028 and 97% by 2030. The deal includes a $1.5 million upfront payment plus monthly revenue sharing.
It’s likely that ALLO, with West at the helm of the parent company, combined with Moline’s expertise, will continue to pursue additional similar deals in more communities it does not serve today.
FTTH consolidation rising
ALLO’s management shift comes as the broader fiber broadband industry is wading through a wave of consolidation.
This consolidation is being carried out at various levels.
At the top are AT&T and Verizon.
By acquiring Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber business, it gained an additional 1 million fiber customers and reached more than 4 million fiber locations across 11 U.S. states. Verizon’s acquisition of Frontier brought 2.2 million fiber subscribers across 25 states, joining its approximately 7.4 million Fios connections in 9 states and Washington, D.C.
No less compelling are the moves by venture capital firms to roll up regional fiber providers.
T-Mobile, for one, recently entered into a 50/50 joint partnership with Oak Hill Capital to acquire and combine GoNetspeed and Greenlight Networks. It also entered a separate 50/50 joint venture with Wren House to acquire i3 Broadband.
Like its deals to acquire Metronet and Lumos Fiber, this latest deal is about scale. It will expand T-Mobile’s fiber footprint to more than 1 million additional homes nationwide.
Likewise, Wide Open West became a private company in January when DigitalBridge Investments and Crestview Partners completed the acquisition of the regional cable MSO, which has been aggressively expanding its fiber broadband base.
Since it became private, WOW has initiated fiber builds in Southeastern Alabama and East Central Michigan.
While ALLO appears to be continuing down an independent path, it would not be surprising if the company’s owners, Nelnet and SDC Capital Partners, are looking to purchase other regional assets to complement their community build strategy.
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About the Author
Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategy of Lightwave across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products.