2017 ANNUAL REPORT

OUR MISSION
The Fiber Broadband
Association's mission is
to accelerate deployment
of all-fiber access networks
by demonstrating how
fiber-enabled applications
and solutions create value
for network operators and
their customers, promote
economic development
and enhance quality of life.
CONTENTS
Board of Directors 2
About Fiber Broadband Association 4
Industry at a Glance 5
Why Fiber? 8
On the Issues 16
Premier Members 19
 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Fiber Broadband Association consists of over 2,400 company member delegates and a nine-member Board
of Directors serving three-year terms. Working committees drive member value and Association activities. The
Association's professional staff includes a full time CEO/President who is supported by marketing and staff
resources.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Chairman of the Board Vice Chairman Treasurer Secretary

SCOTT JACKSON MIKE HILL KEVIN MORGAN GREGG LOGAN
Graybar OnTrac, Inc. Clearfield Telapex, Inc.

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 BOARD MEMBERS FIBER BROADBAND ASSOCIATION
PRESIDENT & CEO:

GARY BOLTON JOHN GEORGE JOANNE HOVIS HEATHER

ADTRAN OFS CTC Technology & Energy BURNETT GOLD

BEN LOVINS AL NUÑEZ Counsel - Ex Officio

Jackson Energy Authority ETI Software Solutions TOM COHEN
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

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 ABOUT
The Fiber Broadband Association
The Fiber Broadband Association is the place to go for
companies, organizations, policymakers and communities that
want to learn how to build better fiber networks. We have OUR VISION
members from almost every state, Canadian province and,
country represented throughout the Americas. And our To be the voice for ultra
members represent the whole broadband ecosystem: providers,
suppliers, consultants, contractors, consumers, policymakers,
high-speed wireline
device and applications providers broadband deployment
We produce first-of-its-kind research, white papers, webinars, throughout the Americas.
trainings and certifications to help our members improve their
own value, enhance their skills and find new opportunities. The
Fiber Broadband Association is a hub for its members and the industry, particularly through our annual Fiber Connect
conference and meetings where professionals can meet face to face for mentoring, networking and collaborative
opportunities.

And finally, we take seriously our mission to educate communities, consumers and policymakers about the
highest-performing broadband available, the benefits and how it’s relevant to all our lives. We regularly contact
policymakers at the federal, state and even local level to weigh in on the value of futureproof fiber infrastructure and give
our expertise on how to make deploying these networks easier. This is the foundation of our Community Toolkit--our
“how to” guide for communities, providers and individuals--which we keep up to date with the latest resources.

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THE NORTH AMERICAN THERE ARE OVER FTTH , PROVIDERS IN THE US
FIBER INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE Smaller Players Beginning to Loom Large

SMALLER PROVIDERS

41.5 Million Homes

Marketed in the U.S.
Sept. 2001 Sept. 2016

UNITED STATES
30.4 Million Homes Marketed
16% Growth
13.7 Million Homes Connected TIER PROVIDERS

U.S. FTTH market share has dipped

slightly with strong construction; US
home connected rose to 13.7 Million in
2016 while aggregate take rates have
fallen slightly to 45%. Aggregate take During 2004-2013, large telco’s
DEPLOYMENT BY
rates sometimes decline during periods (Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink and
PROVIDER TYPE: Frontier) accounted for about
of aggressive builds – as backbone
builds occur faster than connections. 83% of the FTTH build, while
other providers added just 17%
of the annual additions. But in
the last three years, the large
73.7% Telephone - ILEC Tier 1 telcos added about 52% of the
10.6% Telephone - ILEC Tier 2 & 3 build while the “other 1000”
Sept. 2001 Sept. 2016
5.7% Private Competitive - CLEC FTTH providers added 48% in
NORTH AMERICA 4.5% MSO / Cable aggregate. This huge bench of
41.5 Million Homes Marketed 3.9% Public Municipality / PUD smaller yet aggressive FTTH
18% Growth 1.3% Real Estate Development Integrators providers is unique as compared
16.6 Million Homes Connected
0.3% Rural Electric Coop to the rest of the world.
RVA, LLC for the Fiber Broadband Association, October 2016.

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IN RURAL AREAS, FTTH AVAILABILITY IS LOWEST
But Share Is Highest
26% 30% 15%
AVAILABILITY AVAILABILITY AVAILABILITY

43% 50% 63%

AVERAGE AVERAGE AVERAGE
TAKE RATE TAKE RATE TAKE RATE

FIBER IS WINNING THE SPEED RACE:

Upload Speeds Download Speeds

RVA, LLC for the Fiber Broadband Association, October 2016. RVA, LLC for the Fiber Broadband Association, October 2016.

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TRUE FTTH CONNECTED PENETRATION
Versus Other Most Similar Countries
The US probably has the highest level of deployment difficulty in the world with a high population (319
Million), and yet low real population density. Comparing to countries that have at least 35 Million in
population, and a real density measure below 500, the U.S. is second in true FTTH deployment, Canada
is third and Mexico is fifth.

All data from RVA, LLC for the Fiber Broadband Association, October 2016.

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WHY FIBER?
The internet has evolved from simple emails and
web pages to a vibrant ecosystem of applications
and services across multiple industry sectors. Just
15 years ago, companies — and consumers —
were just starting to get the hang of the internet
and figuring out what it could do for them.

This is when we got our start. Our members were

laying fiber, with speeds and capacity that were
previously unknown. This was a critical component
of the “virtuous cycle,” wherein the better networks
fed by fiber led to more powerful applications and services and more widespread adoption. So much data zips
around the world today in commerce, education, entertainment and personal communication that copper wires
are radio waves just can’t keep up.

Because fiber optic cable has so much capacity, it now forms the backbone of the Internet, cable TV networks,
telephone (including cellular networks, private business networks and even data center networks.) Without
fiber, none of these systems would be cost-effective and most would not work at all. All fiber networks have
many technological advantages: they offer high bandwidth speeds both to users and to the cloud, they are more
reliable than other access technologies, and they are eminently upgradeable--the switching electronics are
consistently getting faster and faster.

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ONLINE NW
Like many rural areas in the U.S.,
Dayton, Ore. has struggled to keep and
attract the young professionals—a
necessary talent pool for the next
generation of innovation for the area’s
growing agricultural technology
industry. To meet this challenge, fiber
provider OnlineNW partnered with
Innovate Oregon and the Dayton
school district to create Innovate
Dayton – a program that built an agile
learning environment supplemented by
real-world experience and community
engagement opportunities for Dayton
students from local companies and
wineries.
To take Innovate Dayton’s makerspace
to the next level, OnlineNW worked
with ADTRAN to futureproof the
network, adding 10 Gigabit capacity to
the network. Now, Dayton, Oregon is
the West Coast’s first 10-gigabit
broadband city, with a citywide
implementation of fiber.
FIBER FEEDS
THE INNOVATION ECONOMY
SMART CITIES
From electrical grid management
G NEXT GEN SERVICES
to traffic management
Enhanced mobile broadband,
machine communications,
STREAMING VIDEO
ultra-reliable
Video accounts for 70%
of internet traffic - and growing
CLOUD COMPUTING INTERNET OF THINGS
Computing, hosted servers, 50 billion connected devices
storage and backup need to move by 2020; hundreds in each
terabytes of data, quickly home
Over the last decade, as this cycle of innovation accelerated into an entire
industry built on the Internet, the fiber broadband industry has rapidly
developed new generations of technologies to take advantage of the nearly
limitless capacity of fiber optics. And homes are just the beginning.
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FIBER’S VIRTUOUS CYCLE
APPLICATIONS
NETWORKS CONSUMERS
The industry has been working to meet the demand to our
homes with increasingly innovative products and services.
And new applications we haven’t even envisioned yet will
drive faster and faster services and speeds.
Fiber is now critical infrastructure for other parts of our
communications economy. Our members have broadened
their businesses and outlook to focus on how the fiber
industry is growing to support the 21st Century economy in
new technologies and intersecting industries.
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ROCKET FIBER & DETROIT, MI
As the Motor City seeks to reinvent itself as a technology
hub, they’ve encountered a problem -- nearly 40% of the
city’s households are not online. Enter Rocket Fiber, a
start up internet provider incubated within Detroit-based
Quicken Loans, whose goal is to “future proof Detroit,”
starting with the infrastructure. Officially launched in
2016, but in development for several years, the fiber
startup already boasts the city and state as its customers.
With 20 miles of fiber in downtown Detroit, the company
has lit up commercial and residential buildings
throughout the city’s central business district, providing
gigabit service for homes and even greater capacity for
businesses. The downtown is in the process of a massive
transformation with a central park called Campus Martius
that transforms to a beach in the summer and an
ice-skating rink in the winter, and many companies are
moving their HQs back into the downtown, including
MSX International, Rock Ventures, Rossetti, Quicken
Loans and others.
Now, the company is looking to expand outward,
connecting other parts of the city also undergoing
revitalization. Recently, Rocket Fiber won a project to
provide blazing fast Wi-Fi on the city’s QLINE
transportation system. With a fun mascot -- the astronaut
-- and a commitment to the local community, Rocket Fiber
is accelerating the connected future in Detroit.
LUS & LAFAYETTE, LA
For Lafayette, a city of 120,000 in
Southwest Louisiana, the
municipally-owned LUS Fiber network
network, which took on its first
residential customers in 2009 and
now offers 1-gigabit-per-second service
for as little as $70 a month, has given
the city a tech polish.
The fiber network has attracted new
jobs: NuComm International needed
to locate a new call center – one that
would add 1,000 jobs to the local
economy -- and chose the city because
of its network. Tech startup Skyscraper
Holding relocated from Los Angeles to
Lafayette when CEO Scott Olivier
heard about the speeds and price of
local internet service. And the network
continues to impact Lafayette and the
surrounding areas in surprising ways:
the owner of internet consulting firm
Red Ball Technology specifically
bought a new data center inside the
fiber system’s service area.
FIBER: TO 5G AND BEYOND
Fiber to the home is crucial, but it’s just the beginning. Our members are
building networks to connect entire communities, enterprises, and
supporting the high-speed broadband connectivity that is now critical to
every aspect of our lives. The innovations created by our members now
deliver 10’s of Gigabits per second over individual wavelengths from
tunable optics. Our members are delivering the cloud-based technology
and solutions that provide the potential for near limitless scale and
service agility. We are entering a whole new world of full integration of
seamless communications to everywhere and everything. And the Fiber
Broadband Association is poised to accelerate that connected future.
We see this future on a number of fronts, including fiber to the business
and accelerating fiber access networks to support next generation
wireless, or 5G.
NETWORK DENSIFICATION
Cisco estimates small cells will have
FEMTO increased 11-fold between 2013 and 2018.
CELL
BACKHAUL
MICRO METRO
Small cells need expanded backhaul
CELL CELL
capabilities. As in other places in the
PICO network fiber is the solution
CELL
FIBER GIVES MOBILE EDGE
A report from Strategy& says providers
with largest installed base of fiber
will win the day.
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WESTMINSTER, DENSIFICATION REQUIRES MUCH MORE FIBER
MARYLAND & TING to go from 3G to 4G requires 25X more fiber
and 5G requires at least 16X more fiber
Officials in Westminster, Maryland, a
town of less than 20,000 people were
looking for better broadband but
having trouble incentivizing private
investment for the build-out. So the
town opted to sell bonds to fund a
network they would own, but leases
capacity to private provider Ting to
provide internet service to residents.
As more and more cities turn to G G G
1 site every 10 km 1 site every 2 km 1 site for every 0.5 km
public-private partnerships to build Cell density is 1 cell / Cell density is 25 cells / Cell density is 400 cells /
networks that meet the needs of 21st 100 sq km 100 sq km 100 sq km
Century homes and businesses, this
model has become an intriguing one.
We are quickly moving forward in a 5G world. Fiber has not traditionally
The expanding network is facilitating
been the first thing to come to mind when people think about wireless,
new cultural opportunities and but it should be. Meeting performance goals touted for 5G networks—
economic benefits to city residents high capacity, low latency and extreme reliability—depends on a robust
already. A “Tech Incubation” initiative and widely deployed fiber access network. Technologists report 5G will
has launched to help students explore deliver data speeds 50 to 100 times faster than today’s 4G LTE networks.
their interests in technology as 15 local But 5G is not just about faster wireless speeds. Analysts say 5G's biggest
students spent several weeks learning impact will be to drive the proliferation of the Internet of Things —
to create and operate an actual billions of connected devices.
temporary wireless network.

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FIBER: FUELING THE IOT
These days it seems that just about everything is getting
smarter, from thermostats to refrigerators to factories, and
becoming ever-more connected. Each of these devices —
physical objects with data sensing, analyzing, and recording
functions plus the ability to communicate remotely —
collectively form the “Internet of Things” (IoT), one of the
latest buzz phrases in all areas of technology.
Estimates put the number of these devices, in all applications,
at 3.8 billion in use today, with growth projected to between 25
and 50 billion by 2020 and a market size of $19 trillion.
Clearly, expansion in the use of smart devices is an
unstoppable force, but one thing could hamper this growth —
inadequate bandwidth.
JACKSON ENERGY AUTHORITY
Jackson, Tennessee is home to one of the country’s earliest and
largest community-based fiber networks, operated by the Jackson
Energy Authority (JEA), a public utility in Western Tennessee.
Business and residential subscribers have enjoyed fast fiber
connections from the beginning, but in 2015, JEA began a project
to connect all 18,000 of its customers to symmetrical gigabit fiber
connections -- at very affordable prices. And while JEA customers
benefit with the faster speed when they download a video or install
surveillance equipment for their home, JEA has much larger
projects in mind.
In an interview with the Jackson Sun, JEA President and CEO Jim
Ferrell described their focus on economic development. "We're
heavily involved with the Jackson Chamber, and economic
development was the driving force," Ferrell said. "You are seeing a
lot more business applications." Several industries, use an
inventory system called "just in time," where companies try to
minimize the amount of excess inventory on hand, which helps
keep overhead costs low. An example would be an automotive
supply company that produces a part for a car at one plant — such
as an interior headliner — and ships that part to the assembly
plant to be installed in the car. These parts are often produced on
the same day at one plant and installed at another. To operate this
system, there must be reliable communications between both
plants with large amounts of data capacity. Fiber networks like
JEA’s have been credited with cost savings for Tennessee
communities as well as creating a positive business climate for
job growth and business siting.
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MOUNTING EVIDENCE SAYS:
Fiber is Critical for the Economy
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
A 2014 study found higher per capita GDP (1.1%) in
communities where gigabit Internet was available. Fiber
communities enjoyed approximately $1.4 billion in additional
GDP over other similarly situated communities. More here.
MULTIPLE DWELLING UNIT MDUS
MDU residents are willing to pay 2.8 percent more to purchase
a condo or apartment with access to fiber optic service. Renters
are willing to pay a premium of 8 percent (based on a $1000
monthly rent) for access to fiber. More here.
HOME VALUES
Access to fiber may increase a home’s value by up to 3.1 percent.
More here.
According to local economic experts and policymakers surveyed by RVA, LLC for
the Fiber Broadband Association (May 2017), fiber helps with the following:
FIBER: FUELING THE IOT
While most of the devices that comprise the IoT
communicate wirelessly with the world, all the data that
they send must be transmitted over a physical network
between wireless access points. In the average home, for
instance, each of the thermostats, cameras, appliances,
and even “Dash buttons” must use the home’s internet
connection to send the data which makes them so useful.
In instances where integrated AV and home control
systems are also installed, the amount of data travelling
through the home network via the internet is exploding,
and as with any highway, when the amount of traffic
increases dramatically, the speed of travel decreases just
as noticeably.

So what form of connectivity can provide the data

superhighway that the IoT depends on to keep accelerating?
Fiber.
NEW EMPLOYER EMPLOYER EMPLOYER HOME BASED
ATTRACTION EXPANSION RETENTION BUSINESSES

GVTC
GVTC, a fiber provider serving the area north of San Antonio, Texas, is a 60-year-old telephone cooperative that is winning
the competition for subscribers through its upgrade to all-fiber. GVTC is the story of how fiber to the home can take a small
communications company to business success while bringing world-class connectivity to the Texas Hill Country.

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: FIBER’S KILLER APP EVIDENCE POINTS TO

72%
TEN YEAR JOB IMPACT:

Comparing Fiber to the Home Cities to those Without

BETTER FOR FTTH CITIES

TEN YEAR GROSS METROPOLITAN

64%
PRODUCT IMPACT:

HARRISBURG BETTER FOR FTTH CITIES

PITTSBURG
ALLENTOWN
PHILADELPHIA BETTER YEAR NEW

46%
BUSINESS FORMATION:
CINCINNATI
KANSAS
PROVO CITY
BETTER FOR FTTH CITIES

CHATTANOOGA

MID AMERICAN METROS WITH OVER 60% FTTH

DALLAS MID AMERICAN METROS WITH LESS THAN 25% FTTH
Akron Colorado Springs Indianapolis Memphis St. Louis
Albuquerque Columbus Jackson Milwaukee Toledo
Atlanta Dayton Knoxville Nashville Tuscon
AUSTIN
Baton Rouge Des Moines Las Vegas New Orleans Tulsa
Birmingham Detroit Little Rock Ogden Wichita
Boise El Paso Louisville Oklahoma Youngstown
Chicago Grand Rapids Madison Phoenix
Cleveland Houston McAllen San Antonio
ACCELERATING THE CONNECTED FUTURE
Public Policy Issues
The Fiber Broadband Association is the place to go for companies, organizations, policymakers and communities that
want to learn how to build better fiber networks. Our industry’s proven record of dynamism and innovation is more
important than ever in these changing times. We’ve already demonstrated that we’re prepared to rise to the challenge;
over the last eight years alone, our industry has made great strides in technical capabilities, deployment techniques and
business models. We’re providing more and better services for less cost. Equipment vendors, for example, have
developed simple plug-in devices to reduce the need to splice fiber cable, cutting down on labor costs. Construction
companies have developed micro-trenching to speed up in-ground installation. Providers have experimented with new
models of demand aggregation, worked with communities to streamline permitting processes, and have used their
available assets to benefit consumers and the general public.

As proud as we are of what we’ve accomplished thus far, we’re even more excited about what the future holds for the
fiber industry. In order to ensure the brightest possible fiber future, all levels of the government can and should do their
part to help communities and private industries like ours thrive, making future-proof investments in our country and its
economy. Specifically, we advocate at all levels of government on the following issues:

BARRIERS TO DEPLOYMENT INVESTMENT INCENTIVES COMMUNITY BROADBAND RURAL BROADBAND

Encouraging forward-leaning
rights of way, pole
attachments, battery back-up
policies and more to help
build fiber faster
Persuing light-touch
regulation to benefit
consumers
Advocating for an Encouraging government
ownership- support for Universal Service
agnostic view of fiber
networks to support
facilities buildout

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PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES FOR MORE INFORMATION
Check out our white papers online
BARRIERS TO DEPLOYMENT
The Fiber Broadband Association believes we can and should do Dig Once, Dig Smart
more to make the process for deploying all-fiber networks more Call Once: Updating the Locates System
convenient and more efficient, and therefore, less expensive. Build Once: Future-Proof, Fiber-Ready
Construction costs are between 60 to 80 percent of a next Residential Buildings
generation fiber broadband deployment.
One Touch Make Ready For Pole
Over the last few years, the fiber industry has made considerable Attachments
strides and technological advancements in making ultrafast Residents' Choice in MDUs
broadband easier and cheaper to deploy. Techniques like Permitting and Microtrenching
“micro-trenching” have reduced the costs of in-ground fiber
deployment and, equipment vendors have developed simple plug-in
devices to reduce the need to splice fiber cable. But while the advancements in technology make a big difference, government
agencies at all levels have a major role to play, and they need to work harder to streamline the process of deploying these
networks and otherwise lower the costs of these large-scale construction projects. These include Dig Once policies for laying
fiber conduit and One Touch Make Ready policies to streamline pole attachments for deploying aerial fiber. These low to no cost
policies could cut the costs of fiber construction by an enormous amount and we urge all government entities to adopt them.

INVESTMENT INCENTIVES
The Fiber Broadband Association believes that by reducing regulation, we can propel investment in all-fiber infrastructure. In the
past, the Fiber Broadband Association has urged regulators to: not mandate unbundling of fiber facilities; not impose onerous
open internet requirements on broadband providers; not require battery back up in all-fiber networks; and not regulate the prices
for business data services provided over all-fiber facilities. In addition, the Fiber Broadband Association advocates for the
removal of public and private barriers to investment, such as unreasonable fees for access to poles and rights of way and
unreasonable franchise requirements.

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PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES, CONT.
COMPETITION AND LOCAL CHOICE
The Fiber Broadband Association has long supported -- and
championed -- the creative partnerships between communities, private
companies and nonprofits for bringing fiber to their homes. From
Chattanooga, TN to Kansas City, MO and KS, to Quitman, MS — every
community has a unique set of assets that can accelerate investments
in essential, all-fiber networks. And every community must be able to
use those assets in the manner best suited to their economic situation
and citizens.
RURAL BROADBAND
The Fiber Broadband Association advocates for public policies and
regulatory approaches that will encourage rural telecom service
providers to upgrade to all-fiber connectivity because we believe that
people living in rural communities need the highest possible
connection speeds as much as anyone else. As such, we believe a
critical objective should be a Universal Service Fund (USF) program
that strongly encourages rural service providers to invest in
next-generation networks. The link between the availability of
high-performance broadband services and local economic
development has never been more obvious, and USF is critical to
ensuring that rural communities are able to compete, grow and
prosper in the 21st century.
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C SPIRE FIBER
& MISSISSIPPI
For most of the 2000s, the state of
Mississippi ranked consistently low on
measures of broadband connectedness; and
policymakers, citizens and companies were
looking for a way to bridge the gap. Residents
of the Magnolia state knew that high speed
internet was essential to boost home values,
attract investment and create new jobs.
C Spire is a Mississippi company with an
extensive fiber optic infrastructure – over
4,500 route miles – across the state as the
result of a decade of wireless network
investment. In 2013, C Spire launched the first
statewide ultra-fast Internet access initiative in
the U.S., inviting interested cities and
counties to apply to become gigabit
communities. Thirty-three cities and counties
applied to be among the first communities to
receive the next gen technology, and 9 cities
were selected to be part of the first wave. Each
community was divided into “fiberhoods”
where residents preregistered for gigabit
service. When the preregistration target is
reached, trucks can roll.
PREMIER MEMBERS

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