Broadband Pulse

Astound, like other broadband players, is undergoing a transition. The service provider is merging with GFiber to create a larger independent broadband provider, at a time when the fiber broadband segment is consolidating to meet new scale. Astound itself has been a story of consolidation. In 2018, TPG Capital acquired Wave Broadband. Wave was then combined with RCN Corporation and Grande Communications, both of which were acquired in February 2017, in a $2.25 billion deal; TPG bought RCN for $1.6 billion and Grande for $650 million. GFiber will leverage Astound’s extensive experience in building large-scale fiber networks and community partnerships. The combined company, which aims to expand fiber infrastructure into new markets across California, Colorado, and Iowa, will create a larger platform to serve over 1 million customers across multiple U.S. markets. Astound named telecom veteran Ettienne Brandt as CEO in March. He will focus on expanding Astound's fiber footprint, integrating GFiber assets, and developing converged wireline and wireless services to stay competitive. In this podcast, we spoke with Brandt about his plans to implement new company-wide best practices to improve customer experience while maintaining its local feel. Here’s a timeline of the episode Opening/Introduction | 0:03 Taking on Astound’s CEO role | 1:03 Brandt talks about his first few months on the job. Highlighting initial priorities | 2:17As the cable industry faces customer retention challenges, Brandt launched an internal program called the Astound Way to drive company-wide best practices while maintaining a local feel. Competitive environment | 4:17Brandt highlights how Astound is charting a growth path by improving customer experience, making it as easy to deal with us as it is to deal with fixed wireless access (FWA) providers. Astound’s residential service opportunity | 6:18 How the service provider is enhancing the residential experience with a three-pronged approach: providing instant-on broadband activation for multi-dwelling units (MDUs), distribution and broadband pricing options. MDU broadband approach | 9:10Astound tailors its MDU broadband strategy to each market and opportunity. Focus on easing the experience | 10:25How customers can get access to service and solve issues quickly. Business and wholesale services evolution | 11:10Astound is not only growing business services revenue, but it is also growing wholesale services to data centers. Data center opportunities | 12:23How the service provider is positioning itself to serve data centers that reside near or within its network footprint. Setting priorities | 12:54After meeting with management leaders at Astound, Brandt is working to realign its purpose, create strategy pillars, and gain clarity. Wireless and bundling factor | 18:19How service providers with multiple products can create customer stickiness. Final thoughts/closing | 19:55 Meet our guest Ettienne Brandt was named CEO of Astound in March. Brandt leads Astound as it continues to execute its network expansion and prepares for a planned merger with GFiber (formerly Google Fiber), following an agreement announced in mid-March to combine the two companies and create one of the largest independent fiber-based broadband providers in the country. Brandt has more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry across multiple scaled wireless and broadband platforms. He most recently served as Executive Vice President, Commercial at Frontier Communications, where he was a key senior executive in the company’s successful transformation, ultimately leading to Frontier’s $20 billion sale to Verizon. Before Frontier, Brandt worked for various telecommunications providers, including British Telecom, EE, Orange, and ntl (now Virgin Media), and has vast experience in the Consumer and Commercial segments within wireless and wireline. About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address t

FiberLight is hot on the trail of the AI data center trend. The service provider’s roots trace back to the early 1990s, when its predecessor companies ACSI, ACSI NT, and Xspedius Fiber Group (XFG) built high-bandwidth networks for telecom carriers, ISPs, and utility operators within state and local rights-of-way across the United States. As the product of those companies, FiberLight now has 20,000 route miles in some of the most densely populated metroplexes, fast-growth tech hubs, and underserved rural areas. One of FiberLight’s key markets is West Texas. Earlier this year, FiberLight dedicated a $350 million capital investment to build about 1,400 route miles of new network infrastructure across West Texas. This investment is in addition to the company’s previously announced $150 million West Texas initiative, bringing FiberLight’s total regional commitment to nearly half a billion dollars. Outside of Texas, FiberLight is making aggressive moves in other markets, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Tampa, and Washington, DC. In this Broadband Pulse podcast interview, we caught up with Bill Major, CEO of FiberLight, a competitive service provider expanding its fiber footprint to support growing businesses and data center providers scaling to meet AI needs. Here’s a timeline of the episode: Opening/Introduction | 0:03 FiberLight’s fiber service approach to data centers | 0:40How FiberLight is working to enhance its fiber networks in areas like West Texas to address the insatiable demand for bandwidth to support AI. Dark and lit fiber service options | 1:25FiberLight is seeing its data center customers request a host of connectivity platforms, including optical wavelengths and dedicated large cables. Near-net opportunities | 2:27With one of the largest statewide networks in Texas, it may have diverse lateral fiber connections into new data centers, but then tie them back to existing fiber assets. Fiber market expansion | 3:16 Beyond Texas, FiberLight is expanding in other states, including Louisiana and Oklahoma. Data center market dynamics | 4:23A key element for data center providers is access to the power grid; if they can’t get it, they need to look at behind-the-meter alternatives like Stargate in West Texas has done. Data center build controversy | 6:00How the data center industry needs to educate consumers and others better that they won’t be harmful, and how the utility of AI is similar to how the cell phone is used today. AI infrastructure demand | 8:03 As people become more comfortable with AI's value, Major says they'll see the evolution. Power availability | 10:05How the data center initiative is not just a technology issue, but a geopolitical issue. The Western Pennsylvania market | 11:23Parts of Western Pennsylvania have become attractive because of their power supply options. Alternative energy sources | 12:29As growing data center electricity loads outstrip demand, alternative energy sources will become a bigger priority. Fiber installation methods | 13:46Given the challenges of trenching fiber, there's no easy button to install fiber in the markets FiberLight serves. Final thoughts/closing | 15:17Bill Major provides his final thoughts on FiberLight’s fiber network build strategy. Meet our guest Bill Major, CEO of FiberLightMajor is a seasoned telecommunications executive with more than 20 years of experience leading teams across sales, operations, and process improvement, and a track record of delivering strong operating performance and financial results. Most recently, he served as CEO and President of Everstream Solutions, where he oversaw execution of Everstream’s strategy as the premier enterprise and wholesale fiber platform in the Midwest of the United States. He was also responsible for overseeing the sales, operations, legal, enterprise technology & IT and human resources executive leadership teams. Bill first joined Everstream in 2015 as Vice President of Sales & Marketing and was pro

Lightcurve’s evolution as a fiber broadband provider represents the can-do attitude inherent in the independent ILEC industry. Formerly known as Rainier Connect, the company was founded in 1910 and has more than 110 years of regional history. Based in Tacoma, WA, Lightcurve has served Washington for more than 110 years. It offers high-speed internet, Stream TV, voice, and other business connectivity solutions serving Tacoma, Eatonville, Centralia, Chehalis, and Graham. One of the key developments in Lightcurve’s recent history took place in 2023 when Palisade Infrastructure purchased Rainier Connect, after which it changed its name to Lightcurve. At the time, the company said changing its name to Lightcurve marked the next chapter of its journey and the beginning of significant investments in fiber internet infrastructure. In this Broadband Pulse podcast interview, we caught up with Beth Barnes, VP of Marketing and Consumer Sales for Lightcurve, to talk about the service provider’s rich history and its commitment to being a local fiber service provider for the consumers and businesses it serves. Here’s a timeline of the episode: Opening/Introduction | 0:03 Lightcurve’s fiber broadband evolution | 0:23Barnes talks about how Lightcurve, formerly Rainier Connect, transitioned from a traditional independent ILEC founded in 1910 that served the Pacific Northwest to a fiber broadband provider. The pace of Lightcurve’s fiber transition | 1:50Being an ILEC, it continues to transition its copper and HFC networks to fiber. Prioritizing fiber builds | 2:35Lightcurve will consider various factors, including the return on investment, customer affordability, permitting, and serving new and existing communities. Community outreach | 4:32Barnes noted it approaches not only the residents, but also the community’s leaders when they set a new service target. Lightcurve’s main 2026 highlights | 5:59The service provider has built out about 10,000 new fiber locations in both new and existing communities in both central and western Washington. Serving up an 8 Gbps speed tier | 7:13How offering 8 gig is a statement in the market that can do as much as, or more than, its competitors. Service targets | 8:01Lightcurve continues to serve a mix of single-family and multi-dwelling unit (MDUs) in the market it serves. Fiber workforce | 9:21Lightcurve manages a group of outside contractors for its fiber builds. Competitive differentiation | 10:03With all broadband providers touting reliability, price, and speed, LightCurve focuses on its local community roots. Business services | 12:34Barnes talks about how Lightcurve’s fiber drive is enabling it to offer a broader set of services to local business customers. Lightcurve's digital equity partnership program | 14:17Through its public-private partnership with the City of Tacoma’s Click network, Lightcurve provides free internet to organizations that have access to or provide services to low-income or underserved members of the community. Philanthropic investments | 15:19The impact of Lightcurve’s recently announced series of philanthropic investments to support economic growth in downtown communities in Central and Western Washington. Final thoughts/closing | 16:15Beth Barnes shares her closing thoughts and how Lightcurve plans to continue to expand its fiber broadband presence in existing and new communities. Meet our guestBeth Barnes joined Lightcurve as Vice President of Marketing and Consumer Sales in 2024. She came to the Lightcurve team from Alaska Communications, where she spent over a decade in various leadership roles, most recently as Vice President of Mass Markets and Marketing. Lightcurve is making significant investments in fiber broadband combined with excellence in customer service and a deep commitment to the communities it serves. Beth helps drive Lightcurve’s mission by focusing on customer engagement and experience, positioning Lightcurve as the internet provider of choice at

As a national service organization that represents America's electric cooperatives, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) has come into the telecom industry’s spotlight as a key advocate of rural broadband. Over 250 of its electric cooperatives are deploying or developing plans to deliver broadband service to their consumers. NRECA has been a key voice on broadband regulatory issues, including the FCC’s proposals to overhaul the Universal Service Fund (USF). In a recent FCC filing, NRECA said that reforms to a national program to subsidize telecommunications networks in high-cost areas must ensure that rural residents “are not relegated to second-tier broadband service.” In this interview, we spoke with Jim Matheson, CEO of NRECA, about how its electric cooperative members are leveraging existing customer relationships to help bridge the rural broadband divide. Opening/Introduction | 0:03 Overview of NRECA | 0:26Jim Matheson, CEO of NRECA, provides an overview of the advocacy group and how more than 200 of its members provide broadband in rural areas today. Electric cooperatives’ moving into broadband | 2:28Having delivered electricity in a near-monopoly, NRECA has emphasized to its members that broadband is a different business with different competitive and consumer expectations. The importance of rural broadband | 4:12How broadband is an important issue across all rural America. NRECA members deploying broadband | 5:28Matheson notes that many of its members who provide broadband services have seen great success in take rates. Navigating the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program | 6:02How the changes to the program could affect quality of experience and building future-proofed networks, as well as the non-deployment funds. Middle mile fiber networks | 8:37The benefits of electric cooperatives partnering to create statewide networks to serve others outside of their service territories. Electric cooperative/Investor-owned utility partnerships | 10:14Matheson discusses how its electric cooperative members have at times partnered with larger investor-owned utilities to share best practices and resources. Final thoughts/Closing | 11:36How NRECA will advocate to enable its members to deliver high-quality broadband services in rural markets. Meet our guestJim Matheson is CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives. NRECA members provide service to 42 million people in 48 states. Jim joined NRECA in July 2016 following distinguished careers in both the public and private sectors. Before joining NRECA, Jim served as Principal, Public Policy Practice, at the international law firm Squire Patton Boggs, based in Washington, D.C. From 2001 to 2015, Jim served as a United States Representative from Utah for seven terms. During his tenure on Capitol Hill, Jim was known for working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle. He served as Chief Deputy Whip for the House Democratic Caucus and co-chairman of the Blue Dog Coalition. He served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as the Financial Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Science committees. Prior to entering government service, Jim worked in the energy industry for several years. Jim was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He received a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University, and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from UCLA. Jim's wife, Amy, is a pediatrician, and they have two sons, William and Harris. About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and click on our podcast site at www.broadbandpulse.podbean.com.

Lightmatter, an emerging photonics provider, is centering its efforts on building a photonic infrastructure for AI at scale—interconnects, lasers, and eventually compute itself. Its interconnect product line—Passage — overcomes the limitations of traditional electrical, where bandwidth is constrained by the shoreline—the physical perimeter of the chip. Since its founding by MIT researchers in 2017, Lightmatter has raised $850 million and has gained a $4.4 billion valuation. In this latest Broadband Pulse podcast, we caught up with Nick Harris, founder and CEO of Lightmatter, about how it is helping the AI hyperscaler community find new ways to scale. Opening/Introduction | 0:03 Overview of Lightmatter | 0:23Lightmatter’s CEO Nick Harris provides an overview of the company and its optical network platforms. Lightmatter’s interconnect platform | 1:49Harris describes how its Passage L20, a bi-directional near-package optics (NPO) engine, can help overcome the fiber shortage, as well as its partnerships with Qualcomm and Nvidia. Addressing fiber shortages | 4:46How Lightmatter’s platforms use half the fiber, enabling cost savings. Co-packaged Optics (CPO) and near-packaged optics (NPO) opportunities | 5:56Lightmatter is seeing the initial ramp-up for NPO for 2027 and the end of 2028 for CPO. Lightmatter’s NVIDIA relationship | 7:08NVIDIA will play a critical part in scaling and delivering on performance promise for AI workloads, inference, and training. The XPO (eXtra-dense Pluggable Optics) Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) | 8:25Lightmatter talks about its motivation to join Arista and other companies to advance XPO technology. Bidirectional (BiDi) technology | 9:27How Lightmatter’s BiDi technology will affect the data center scale-out segment. Final thoughts/Closing | 10:47Harris provides his final thoughts about where Lightmatter sees the optical market going through the rest of 2026 and beyond. Meet our guest Nick Harris is the CEO of Lightmatter. With over 30 patents and 70 publications in journals including Nature, Nature Photonics, and Nature Physics, Nicholas’ seminal work on quantum and classical information processing with integrated photonics has helped launch the international research field of programmable photonics. Nicholas has been recognized by the MIT Technology Review through the prestigious Innovators Under 35 award (2021). The award had over 500 nominees and a panel of judges including artificial intelligence luminary Andrew Ng; previous winners include Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google founders), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder), and Jony Ive (Apple). He received his doctorate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and later served as a Postdoctoral Fellow through the Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Fellowship. About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and click on our podcast site at www.broadbandpulse.podbean.com.