Broadband Communities – Cable MSOs will look to fund new network expansions through a combination of existing capital and a spate of recent federal broadband funding programs.

The late-2021 passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided substantial fuel for MSOs to close the digital divide, using public funding such as the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program to expand broadband services to adjacent areas, enhance and upgrade existing services in regions considered underserved under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) 100/20 Mbps broadband definition, and open new greenfield markets where they have had no previous presence.

Cable MSOs have unique opportunities for network upgrades and expansion by leveraging the combination of their capital and available federal and state funding over the next five years. Though large-scale federal programs such as American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), BEAD Program, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and Rural Utility Service (RUS) are prominent because of their size and ongoing duration, numerous states are committing their local tax dollars to broadband projects, providing significant opportunities for operators […]

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