The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is the single largest federal investment in broadband to date. Critically, $42.45 billion has been allocated to the expansion of high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment and adoption programs in all 50 US states.
Superior Essex is one organization that will play a key role in helping to realize the benefits that the BEAD program will bring, serving to interconnect ISPs and internet providers to users with fiber cables.
Speaking to Fierce Telecom exclusively, Brian Ensign, VP of marketing at the company, acknowledges this role.
“We're supporting that and making sure the product's there available… not only next year, but the next five years and beyond,” he affirms. “We've invested heavily in manufacturing to make sure to do that, so there's enough capacity in the US along with our other folks that make cable.”
Brian discusses the importance of the program extending internet services to all users across the country, including those in rural or typically underserved communities. Here, he touches on the importance of different techniques in achieving that, such as small cell wireless, fixed point wireless, or hybrid cable applications.
Conversations also turn to the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act – part of the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that aims to leverage materials made in the United States for domestic infrastructure projects. Here, Brian expresses his pride in the initiative, and Superior Essex’s position as an American enterprise.
To find out more about BEAD, BABA, and how connectivity infrastructure is set to expand across the US in the coming years, check out the full interview.
Kevin Gray:
Hi, my name is Kevin Gray, publisher at Fierce Telecom. I'm excited to be here at this week's US Broadband Summit launch. I'm also excited about the opportunity to speak with Brian Ensign, VP of marketing over at Superior Essex. Brian, thank you so much for joining me today.
Brian Ensign:
Thanks for having me.
Kevin Gray:
Brian, this event has lots of talk about BEAD funding and a lot of growth opportunities are being associated with that. I'm just curious, what is Superior Essex's role in all that and how are you supporting the BEAD program in general?
Brian Ensign:
It's a good question. We're really excited about the BEAD funding and broadband for everybody. They're interconnecting everybody and giving access to everybody. Very supportive of that and going to continue to do that. Now for us, the part of, it's an interconnection piece. The cable piece that connects all the folks from the ISPs or the internet provider side all the way to the users, so that network side of it.
The fiber cables, outside plant cables, all the way from one single fiber all the way up to hundreds and thousands of fibers. Whether it's long haul, middle mile, or last mile, we're involved in all that. We're supporting that and making sure the product's there available and being able to support not only next year, but the next five years and beyond. We've invested heavily in manufacturing to make sure to do that, so there's enough capacity in the U.S along with our other folks that make cable.
We're definitely focused on making sure the cable's there and ready so when they get ready to deploy it, they can get their hands on it, use it, and put it in the ground or aerially or any of those things. We're the central network cabling behind all this.
Kevin Gray:
That's a good way to phrase it. I'd imagine, as you just mentioned, you guys touch on a lot of different places in the industry here. I'd imagine you've seen some pretty unique methods as to how broadband gets rolled out to everyone. I'd love for you to share that and some things you've seen in the industry.
Brian Ensign:
It is because it's unique, because talking about underserved or not served scenarios, farms, rural areas are getting the service pretty ready as targeted going forward is getting the service. It's easy to say, "I've got 12 homes, I got to run so much cable to that area and deploy it." Along with that, there's also been unique on the small cell wireless side or fixed point wireless side.
That way if it can't get to a certain area with the cable side of it or we got to stretch the amount of folks we can connect in that area, now it's more of a Wi-Fi or wireless plan to get that done. We've seen that in a few communities now. Now, I can do small cell or Wi-Fi applications and serve multiple places versus a cable run here, cable run here, cable run here. In that world it's more of a hybrid cable type application.
Now, I'm running power and data to power all these Wi-Fi locations under the same cable. I got copper fiber mixed together, so I can provide power and data to these fixed cells or fixed Wi-Fi locations very easily. That way the deployment's quicker, it's faster. It's just another unique way of servicing these communities versus going through a plan that might take longer, might be more expensive, those type of things.
This is a way to help do that through a wireless type environment for sure. There's been some of that going on. I think there's other designs that are coming that will be more how do we stretch all this to get all these communities served and within a good amount of time to do that and within the funding. Trying to think of different ways to do it than just a normal, "Let's run cables here, here, and here."
Kevin Gray:
That makes sense.
Brian Ensign:
It's cool.
Kevin Gray:
Well, last question I have for you. There's also a lot of talk here about Build America, Buy America. I'm curious specifically for the cable industry, how has the cable industry uniting behind Build America, Buy America? What are you seeing there?
Brian Ensign:
Well, over the years there's been a lot of made in America claims, assembled in America, made in America, American materials, American labor, all that. It's been very proud. A lot of US companies in the US that manufacture cable, very proud of that. It's nice to see that now is formally recognized because it's easy to say made in America, but now we have a program or documentation we can point to.
Now, it tells us as manufacturers to be claiming made in America, meeting BABA, Build America, Buy America Act, so really applaud that coming out. Now, we have something we can point to, whether it's at a federally funded opportunities or projects or whether it's at an airport or the FAA or FCC. Any type of these organizations in the government world, now they can point to that and say, "This is a requirement. Product's got to meet this."
We're confident that in America there's enough capacity or manufacturing to be able to get there or sourcing of raw materials to make these products to get there. Really applaud that and really supporting American jobs and American made for us specifically in our Brownwood, Texas facility, $75 million investment there. That's expanding capacity and expanding manufacturing, but also expanding hundreds of jobs locally, so we're supporting that.
This has allowed us to build up more jobs in America, make it American products. Really applaud that and continue to support that going forward. I think that's going to come outside into the public world too, into the privately funded opportunities. Now, they can point to it and say, "I'm made in America, now I can point to this document that says this is what it is to be considered made in America." We're really proud of that.
Kevin Gray:
That's awesome. Well, unfortunately that's all the time that we have for today. Thank you so much for joining us and hopefully we'll be able to do this again sometime.
Brian Ensign:
Appreciate it, thank you.
Kevin Gray:
Thanks, Brian.