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Fiber Deployments in North America Reach All-Time High
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on
According to a research study conducted by Fiber Broadband Association and RVA, LLC, fiber deployments in North America hit record highs in 2019. The broadband deployment initiative experienced a 16 percent growth or roughly 7,500,000 new homes now with fiber connectivity. More than 46.5 million houses have access to fiber Internet access compared to the 50,000 homes in 2002.
Here are some key findings from the report:
Over the past year, fiber broadband networks became available to 6.5 million additional unique homes — a record level of additions. Smaller providers accounted for 25 percent of these new home connections.
All-fiber deployments to customer end-points are at record levels, with over 400,000 fiber routes deployed in the last year. This increase was driven by new deployments to homes, upgrades by cable operators, and the beginning of deployments to small cell sites.
To learn more, the full report is available to members of the Fiber Broadband Association. Lisa R. Youngers, president and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association:
2019 was a banner year for fiber broadband. Fiber networks now support everything from 5G to Smart Cities to the Internet of Things. I’m thrilled that our Association can demonstrate the progress that we have made. In 2020, we will continue the work to connect the unconnected and accelerate our fiber future.
A similar report in 2018 found that broadband was currently available to 5.9 million new homes. More than 1,000 small providers provided for 29 percent of the deployment.
Homes passed by Tier 1 providers comprise 72.6 percent of total U.S. fiber broadband homes, followed by incumbent Tier 2 and 3 providers, which comprise 10.3 percent. Other types of companies that have deployed fiber include competitive carriers (6.4 percent of total), cable companies (5.5 percent), municipalities (3.7 percent), real estate development integrators (1.1 percent) and rural electric cooperatives (.5 percent).
In recent years, rural cooperatives have increasingly deployed fiber connectivity to their members and to subscribers in their service territories. Read more about how rural electric and phone cooperatives are fiberizing rural regions in the most recent addition of our report, Cooperatives Fiberize Rural America: A Trusted Model for the Internet Era.
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