Brightspeed reaffirmed plans to reach 1 million homes passed by the end of 2023, setting an interim target for its first full year of operation as the company works to reach a total of 3 million homes over the coming years.
The formal announcement of its goal came after Brightspeed COO Tom Maguire told Fierce in April it was aiming to hit 1 million homes each in 2023 and the years thereafter to reach its ultimate target.
The company is still waiting for parent Apollo Management Group to close a $7.5 billion deal to acquire Lumen Technologies’ ILEC assets in 20 states. On a recent earnings call, Lumen CEO Jeff Storey said the company is seeking approval from various regulatory bodies but noted the review process “has not moved as quickly as we had hoped.” It expects the transaction to close in early Q4 2022, he added.
However, Brightspeed CEO Bob Mudge said in a fresh press release it is hoping for a Q3 2022 close.
Regardless of the deal’s completion date, Mudge said the operator has “already begun design and construction preparations necessary to hit the ground running on day one.”
Indeed, the company recently selected Corning, Calix and Dycom as some of its key vendors. And Maguire told Fierce it is looking to kick off construction in multiple states once the deal with Lumen closes. Maguire also shared details about Brightspeed’s planned network architecture, which can be found here.
Brightspeed said in its announcement this week its initial deployment will focus primarily on rural and suburban regions of the country.
The operator is cutting its teeth with the deployment of a fiber network in North Carolina, which will support its first office application and serve as the blueprint for its broader rollout. Brightspeed Chief Administration Office Chris Creager said in a statement that infrastructure will be “ready for testing in just a few weeks.”
Despite its test efforts, Brightspeed noted it will not sign up any customers for its network until after the deal with Lumen is complete.