Comcast closer to facing broadband competition in Alexandria

Four service providers have reportedly made the shortlist of companies that will possibly bring more broadband competition to Alexandria, Virginia and take on Comcast, the market's incumbent cable operator.

ALXNow reports that proposals from those four companies – Lumos Networks, North American Tower Corp., Shentel and Ting Internet – were accepted at a city council meeting held last week.

According to ALXNow, they have submitted proposals to construct and maintain a broadband system in Alexandria, a market just south of Washington, D.C., known for its brick sidewalks. The city staff will now look to complete a review of the proposals and send its findings back to the City Council.

All four shortlisted companies, along with Comcast, have been asked for further comment.

Shentel responded to the city's original inquiry and will participate in Alexandria's request for proposal (RFP) process, a spokesperson confirmed, noting it will be up to the city to decide who it will work with.

Ting Internet also confirmed it made the short-list of ISPs bidding on Alexandria's broadband franchise, adding that the city is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks.

Update: Lumos also confirmed that it was among the companies shortlisted for the Alexandria project.

The shortlisting is an important milestone as Alexandria pushes ahead with a plan to open up new broadband options in the city by overbuilding with fiber and having private companies manage it. That multi-year effort has been delayed by the pandemic.

Alexandria engaged with Verizon several years ago about expanding its Fios network into the area. According to the city, a franchise for Verizon was approved in June 2009, but the telco decided the following year not to pursue the plan after conducting a review of its business strategy at the time.

Once Alexandria makes its final approvals on the aforementioned shortlist of providers, Comcast will eventually face broadband competition in the politically charged city. Alexandria broke ground on construction of its municipal fiber network in August 2021, and currently expects to wind up construction by February 2025.

Footprint expansion opportunities abound

The Alexandria franchise is just one of several opportunities that have opened up for wireline providers to expand their service footprints through network edge-outs, M&A, new franchise deals in markets serviced by incumbents or greenfield opportunities.

Comcast itself has been pursuing several of those options. Late last year, the cable operator broadened its reach in Massachusetts after striking deals to acquire two municipal service providers – one for BELD of Braintree, and another for Russell Municipal Cable TV in Springfield.

Among other recent examples, Atlantic Broadband (now known as Breezeline) will spend about $82 million to extend its network into new areas of New Hampshire and West Virginia that will place the company in competition with the likes of Comcast, Consolidated Communications and Frontier Communications.

In yet another expansion example, WideOpenWest plans to build out fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks to greenfield markets passing at least 200,000 homes and businesses by 2027, with the potential to expand that to 400,000 locations.

Related posts:

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading