Today Gary Bolton, FBA President and CEO, issued his quarterly letter to membership. In it, he notes that artificial intelligence is transforming every sector of the economy. Hyperscalers are investing at unprecedented scale in AI infrastructure. Data centers are expanding rapidly. AI inference is moving closer to businesses, communities, and the network edge. Quantum networking is advancing from research toward practical application.
One fact has become increasingly clear: None of it happens without fiber.
Fiber is no longer simply the infrastructure that connects people to information. It is becoming the critical infrastructure that connects our economy to intelligence. This quarter, that evolution became increasingly visible - not only across the market, but throughout the Fiber Broadband Association.
Bolton highlights the Association's accomplishments and what you can expect soon as FBA helps the industry build the infrastructure that will define the next generation of innovation.
FBA Data Confirms Permitting Delays Inhibit Network Investment & Deployment
Today FBA announced a first-of-its-kind report, Wireline Telecommunications Permitting Challenges: Economic Impact of State and Local Permitting Practices, that details how state and local permitting delays can significantly undermine or entirely prohibit wireline network deployment. It provides a fact-based view of wireline permitting practices, their economic impacts, and opportunities for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) action to improve permitting regulations.
Permitting remains a leading challenge for wireline network builders, and the stakes are only growing as communities need fiber infrastructure to connect residents, businesses, and anchor institutions to innovative services and applications, like AI and quantum.
FBA’s report comes at a critical time, after the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in June 2026 that proposes rules under Section 253 of the Communications Act to alleviate constraints on the deployment of modern high-speed wireline infrastructure. The report brings new economic evidence into that debate, showing how specific permitting practices can affect not only when networks are built, but whether they are built at all. FBA filed comments in support of the NPRM and will file the Wireline Telecommunications Permitting Challenges report today as an additional resource for the Commission’s consideration.
📣 Call for Speakers & Rodeo Contestants Now Open 📣
FBA has officially opened the Call for Speakers for Fiber Connect 2027, inviting industry experts, network operators, community leaders, and other voices across the fiber and digital infrastructure ecosystem to help shape a variety of program content. Applications are due November 30 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The 2027 program is built to address both the issues operators are managing today and the areas creating new opportunities for fiber networks. Alongside core broadband deployment and business topics, Fiber Connect will look more closely at how AI, data centers, cloud infrastructure, energy requirements, and other changes in the digital economy are affecting network planning and operations.
Applicants will be asked to explain their direct experience from the field and how their unique perspective could help move the discussion forward for Fiber Connect attendees. Selected speakers will participate as part of panels and other programmed sessions, including Pre-Conference Workshops, Breakout Sessions, and Specialty Programs.
The call for contestants for the OpTIC Path Rodeo is also open. The competition gives new and experienced fiber technicians the opportunity to demonstrate their installation and splicing skills in a live, hands-on competition.
Want to see your company's fiber news featured here? Email your press releases and related images to fiberforward@fiberbroadband.org by noon ET on Wednesdays.
BEAD Isn't Over Yet: What Happens After Final Approval?
This week’s Fiber for Breakfast explored what happens when plans on paper start meeting realities on the ground. Gary sat down with Carol Mattey, founder of Mattey Consulting and a former FCC and NTIA official, to discuss provider walkaways, replacement awards, new unserved locations, and the latest effort to catch places that may still fall through the cracks.
BEAD is entering the phase where states must keep projects viable, replace providers when necessary, and ensure new identified gaps do not become permanent ones. The goal has not changed: get people connected. The challenge now is giving states enough room to keep adjusting until that happens.
This week, FBA filed reply comments with the FCC regarding National Security and Communications Supply Chain Rules and the FCC's proceeding on the Covered List and equipment authorization program.
"...FBA urges a consistent, risk-based approach that ties restrictions to demonstrated national security risks and resolves compliance at the equipment authorization stage. This approach would give manufacturers greater regulatory certainty while allowing broadband providers to rely on authoritative authorization records rather than independently reconstruct complex component and production information."
📆 Wed., Nov. 18 | Vancouver, B.C.| 5 PM local time
There is no cost to attend FBA Member Mingles. Remember to bring business cards to enter door prize drawings! RSVP to any of these events by emailing membership@fiberbroadband.org. Stay tuned for more upcoming Member Mingles and track all upcoming FBA events here.
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