The Buildout: Brightspeed cheers first BEAD win in Louisiana as 'just the beginning'

Brightspeed launched its network in Killeen, Texas, this week. Services are now available for 35,000 homes and businesses in Killeen and Bell County. In total, the network will ultimately reach 79,000 locations once construction is complete, said Brightspeed. Work in the region began earlier this year. In addition to Brightspeed, fiber provider Metronet announced it was building out in Killeen this year as well. This week, Brightspeed became one of the first providers in the country to pick up awards from the federal government's Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, with the company receiving $7.5 million to cover 2,801 locations in Louisiana. "This is just the beginning as we continue to apply for additional BEAD funding in the states we serve," said Brightspeed CEO Tom Maguire in a press release. In total, Louisiana awarded $748 million in BEAD funds for broadband deployment projects this week to cover 140,000 locations, with most funding going to a fiber consortium that includes T-Mobile. (For a list of BEAD winners and awards in Louisiana, see: Louisiana to award 95% of BEAD funds for fiber.)

Consolidated's Fidium Fiber launched services for more than 1,200 homes and businesses in Milan and Dummer, New Hampshire. The company's services also launched for over 2,000 homes and businesses in Pittsburg, New Hampshire. And in Maine, Fidium Fiber said its services launched for more than 9,600 homes in the Lakes Region, including Windham, Gorham and Standish. Relatedly, Fidium Fiber said last week that it has connected more than 276,000 locations in New Hampshire over the last three years, with more than 60,000 planned for 2025. The company also announced that in that time period it has connected 134,000 locations in Vermont, with another 50,000 planned for 2025.

Intrepid Fiber Networks – an entity of Brookfield Asset Management – broke ground on a citywide fiber broadband network in Broomfield, Colorado, this week. The project, which was announced in May as part of a broader plan to connect 400,000 homes and businesses in Colorado and Minnesota, will deliver service to Broomfield, "along with other North Denver Metro area cities," according to a press release. Initial services are expected in early 2025. Intrepid Fiber announced in July that it had secured $290 million in debt financing to support its build plans for Colorado and Minnesota.

Bluepeak broke ground on its $19.5 million buildout in Muskogee, Oklahoma, this week, after beginning design and engineering on the project six months ago. Once complete, the network is expected to reach 16,000 homes and businesses. Bluepeak is owned by GI Data Infrastructure and received additional investment from Ares Management earlier this year.

FirstLight, a digital infrastructure provider for enterprise and carrier customers, will partner with the Maine Connectivity Authority to build out 450 miles of middle-mile fiber throughout Western Maine. Funding for the $11 million project comes from Maine's Partnerships for Enabling Middle Mile (PEMM) program. FirstLight will complete construction in phases "over the next several months," with work to start in Bethel. The project will ultimately help connect 6,600 unserved and underserved locations and is slated for completion by 2029.

Charter's Spectrum launched services for 200 homes and businesses in Fayette County, Ohio. The deployment is associated with Spectrum's commitment through the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). Like Brightspeed, Spectrum also became one of the first providers in the country to pick up awards from the federal government's BEAD program this week, with the company receiving $11.7 million to cover 1,701 locations in Louisiana.