Broadband Pulse

When the FCC cut E-Rate funding for mobile hotspots & school bus Wi-Fi in September 2025, it threatened internet access for millions of students – hitting low-income and rural students hardest and worsening the digital divide. Nearly 20K schools & libraries were counting on more than $27.5 million to ensure children and families stay connected, but now they’ve been left out to dry.  But Mi...

In this new Broadband Pulse podcast, we talked to Jared Sonne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Astound West Region. During the session, Sonne addressed how Astound Broadband is approaching new opportunities with the government's BEAD program, community and commercial broadband partnerships and its ongoing penetration into the multi-dwelling unit (MDU) market.  About the Podcast  In the...

In this latest issue of Building Broadband, we’re tracking new broadband deployments from various providers. Today, we’re breaking the summary into two parts—highlighting builds for the weeks ending January 16 and January 9. For the week of January 16, we’re tracking deployments from Comcast, Dobson Fiber, Glo Fiber, Spectrum, STELLAR Broadband and Ziply Fiber. Then, for the week of January 8, we...

Unlike previous generations of Wi-Fi that focused on speed, the upcoming Wi-Fi 8 standard (IEEE 802.11bn) focuses on enabling Ultra High Reliability (UHR), consistency, and lower latency in real-world, interference-prone environments.  Broadcom is taking on the Wi-Fi 8 opportunity full force. As AI reshapes how data moves, Broadcom is taking on Wi-Fi 8 with its recently launched BCM4918 Accelerate...

In this Building Broadband episode of Broadband Pulse, we're tracking new broadband deployments from Comcast, Digital C, Intrepid Fiber Networks, Optimum, Shentel, STELLAR Broadband, and Wyyered Fiber.  About the Podcast  In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address key issues affecting the optical and broadband industries. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these top...

As the demands from AI have created new bandwidth expectations, the Optical Interoperability Forum (OIF) realizes that it has to respond to new demands for industry interoperability in near real time. This was reflected in the OIF’s Next Generation CEI-448G Framework Document , released at its recent Q4 2025 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting. OIF’s CEI-448G Framework Document defines the a...

Founded in 2023 in Houston, Texas, by Carter Old and SDC Capital Partners, Lyte Fiber focuses on delivering fiber-based broadband in Texas and beyond. Old, a former US Navy officer, has extensive experience in developing new approaches to broadband delivery and financial expertise across various industry segments. Lyte Fiber is not Old's first fiber rodeo. Before co-founding Lyte Fiber, he co-foun...

In this latest issue of Building Broadband, we’re tracking new broadband deployments from Bluepeak, Cajun Broadband, Comcast, Ezee Fiber, Fidium, Ripple Fiber, Surf Internet and Ziply. About the Podcast  In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address key issues affecting the optical and broadband industries. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our web...

Arelion enhances its European reach while carving out a position in the ever-evolving enterprise services market.    As chief evangelist at Arelion, Mattias Fridström is passionate about networking. A nearly 30-year veteran of the service provider, Fridström not only has insights into the networked economy but also into the challenges network providers will face tomorrow in meeting ever-increasing...

In this latest issue of Building Broadband, we’re tracking new broadband deployments from Dobson Fiber, Fidium, Henderson Municipal Power & Light, Metronet Fiber, Omni Fiber, Spectrum, TDS Telecom and Wecom Fiber. 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 in...

While LightRiver, a network integrator, operates in multiple customer spheres—telecom providers, data centers and the public sector- the one thing they all have in common is that they operate high-reliability communications networks. The company is focused on building networks that they sell services to every fund from the Internet at your house to multi-terabit networks between data centers and e...

With most people being distracted during the holidays, online scammers are ready to pounce on consumers. According to Optimum, the most common online scams identified by Optimum’s cybersecurity team this season include phishing websites, smishing scams, non-delivery schemes, charity fraud and travel scams. The company shared these insights in October during the worldwide Cybersecurity Awareness Mo...

In this week's episode of Building Broadband, we're tracking new broadband builds from Alabama Fiber Network (AFN), Breezeline, Brightspeed, eX² Technology, Home Telecom, and Ziply Fiber.   These providers are all using a mix of public and private funding for a host of new broadband build-outs across a diverse set of communities. Lightwave is tracking service providers' ongoing efforts to extend b...

In this special edition of the Broadband Pulse podcast, we're in Dallas, Texas, covering this year’s Mplify (formerly MEF) Global NaaS Event GNE 2025 show. For this episode, we’re taking a look at the key highlights of the first day of the event:  Mplify’s leadership transition Mplify Market Brief Positioning NaaS as Foundation for Agentic AI Mplify ’s Carrier Ethernet for AI certification Advanci...

In this week's episode of Building Broadband, we're tracking new broadband builds from Brightspeed, Digital C, Ezee Fiber, Fidium, Greenlight Networks, Junction Internet, Lyte Fiber, Metro Communications, Metronet, and Vero Fiber are all using a mix of public and private funding for a host of new broadband build-outs across a diverse set of communities. As part of this mix, we also saw three servi...

In late August, the Arkansas State Broadband Office released the state’s final proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, officially opening the plan for public review and comment. According to the Arkansas State Broadband Office, the state's $1 billion BEAD program represents the largest public broadband investment in Arkansas history. The state's BEAD program garne...

In this episode of the Broadband Pulse, we talked to the Ethernet Alliance about the upcoming High-Speed Networking (HSN) Plugfest  that will be held from December 8-12, 2025, at Keysight Technologies in Santa Clara, CA. The Plugfest will feature interoperability testing for Ethernet devices ranging from 200GbE to 1.6TbE, covering various interconnects and transceivers. The event supports the tran...

As bandwidth demand accelerates and power consumption issues become more acute, the emergence of Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) has become a welcome technology. LPO is a technology that creates low-power optical modules for ultra-short-reach data center connections by removing the complex DSP (Digital Signal Processor) chip from the module. This design reduces power consumption, cost, and latency,...

Vistabeam is another example of a company finding a way to serve the often-overlooked rural market. Matt and Monique Larsen, who co-founded Vistabeam in 2004, believed rural communities deserved better internet and better opportunities. Like other entrepreneurs who rose during the early days of the internet, the Larsens were working at another ISP, but saw an opportunity to leverage new wireless t...

In this special episode of the Broadband Pulse podcast, we're tracking key trends taking place at SCTE's TechExpo25 show.  As the final installment in this series, we’re tipping our hat to the vendors who showcased new wares that are designed to assist cable MSOs with their ongoing migration to DOCSIS 4.0, fiber broadband, and enhance the reach of their metro and long-haul optical networks. Lightw...

In this special episode of the Broadband Pulse podcast, we're tracking key trends taking place at SCTE's TechExpo25 show.  This episode has highlights from the second day of the show, including: DOCSIS 4.0 Evolution: Comcast and Mediacom revealed their progress during the show through their vendor partnerships with CommScope and Harmonic. MDU broadband: As they did with cable TV, cable operators a...

In this special episode of the Broadband Pulse podcast, we're tracking key trends taking place at SCTE's TechExpo25 show.  This episode has highlights from the first day of the show.  In this SCTE TechExpo25 podcast, we’re tracking several key news items: · FCC commissioners’ perspective: Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty, gave their views on broadband, the BEAD program, affordability and efforts to st...

As the cable industry considers new methods to address competition with fiber and converged wireless/wireline service sets, it’s clear the industry is looking towards its next elements of growth. Nowhere will this be highlighted than at the SCTE TechExpo25. During this year’s TechExpo25 show, attendees will be able to view new technologies like AI, automation, and advanced planning, while tackling...

Mike Vermeer’s telecom career took hold right out of college when he joined Panduit. During his 20 years with the company, he has tackled various missions related to product design, technology, innovation, and looking at customer challenges.  One of his key passions is helping improve network deployments for the company’s array of service provider customers. Today, he serves as the Manager of Broa...

Brightspeed, Comcast, Conexon Connect, C Spire, DigitalC, Ezee Fiber, Gateway Fiber, Lumos, Sprocket Networks and TDS Telecom are all expanding broadband in various communities through a mix of venture capital and state funding sources.  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 f...