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Fastwyre Broadband recently hit 120,000 homes passed, doubling its passings count over the past two years
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It announced investments to upgrade its network in Louisiana and Nebraska
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Fastwyre is eyeing government funding from BEAD and the like, but is treading cautiously
Amid a sea of regional fiber operators, Fastwyre Broadband is one that’s done pretty well for itself.
Formerly known as American Broadband, Fastwyre was once made up of three telcos (American Broadband, Cameron Communications and TelAlaska) serving different regions. The company was acquired by private equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners and Catania at the end of 2020, eventually rebranding to Fastwyre in August 2022.
According to Fastwyre CFO Keith Soldan, the operator passed roughly 60,000 households in early 2022. Now, it’s hit the 120,000 homes-passed mark. The company clarified these passings are predominantly fiber, but not all of them.
“Basically, this investment that we’ve made has essentially doubled our total addressable market,” he told Fierce, noting Fastwyre in the past two years invested $200 million in network upgrades and expansion across six states – Alabama, Alaska, Missouri, Nebraska, Louisiana and Texas.
In March alone, Fastwyre announced investments in Louisiana and eastern Nebraska to upgrade fiber network speeds there. It's planning to do the same in Missouri later this month.
The company has a straightforward goal, said Fastwyre CEO Chris Eldredge, and that’s to become “the premier provider of communications services in rural America.”
“I’m not looking to go into D.C. I’m not looking to go into New York City. We really want to be in those rural communities where we can have an impact and help upgrade the infrastructure,” Eldredge said.
As more people take on remote work, they’re moving out of cities and migrating back to small communities and rural towns once those areas get high-speed broadband access, he added.
Fastwyre currently offers plans of 500 Mbps and 1-gig in all markets, Soldan said, with around 75-80% of customers in those markets taking the 1-gig plan. In some markets it’s launched a 2-gig tier, and in those cases roughly 80% of subscribers take 1-gig and 20% 2-gig, “so there’s definitely a good take rate on those two.”
He estimated by mid-summer all of Fastwyre’s fiber markets “will be up to 2-gigs,” as the company continues to make capacity upgrades in its legacy fiber footprint.
Money talks
Getting acquired by private equity – and consolidating three companies into one – made it easier for Fastwyre to expand, said Eldredge, because it unified the process for delivering services, purchasing, accounting, creating a trouble ticket, etc., anything that goes into running a telco business.
But of course, it all comes down to capital.
“Being a part of the MDP family helps us to secure financing at more favorable rates…it’s been a terrific relationship between us and them,” he said. “Before we go into a new market, we show them the financials and we show them this is what we’re going to do and this is how we’re going to do it. And they make the final decision.”
Fastwyre also has its eye on government funding from programs like Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD), the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) and USDA’s ReConnect program.
At the same time, it’s treading cautiously.
“You’ve got to be very careful when you take money from the government,” Eldredge stated. “Not all the programs are good programs. We look for grants that we think can help us in specific locations.”
He explained government programs may only fund 30% or 50% of a build, which would drive up deployment costs for Fastwyre. Obviously, the company’s first priority is to find grants that can offer 100% funding, but that’s not always the case.
“We look for grants for middle mile that can help us connect our locations together, help us reduce our trouble tickets, network failure and mean time to repair,” Eldredge said. “But we’re also looking for government dollars in those markets where we can be the first provider in and have an impact on the community.”
In short, Fastwyre’s looking at government funding as a way to make sure its customers “stay with us for a long time.”
Determining where to apply for BEAD is going to be a bit trickier, as each state works through the kinks of the program. Eldredge noted Fastwyre’s six markets (the states it operates in) account for about 25% of overall BEAD funding.
“We’re still trying to figure out when and where we’re going to participate in BEAD,” he said. Rest assured, Fastwyre will be tossing its hat into the ring.
This story has been updated to clarify Fastwyre's 120,000 passings are predominantly fiber, but not all of them, and that Fastwyre is also making investments to upgrade its network in Missouri.