Verizon bringing fiber to Sacramento

When Verizon announced plans to build FiOS in Boston last year – after years of refusing to build-out fiber to new cities – it wasn’t clear whether Beantown was a one-off experiment or model Verizon would carry elsewhere. Now, it seems, Boston was more the latter, the first new city to deploy Verizon fiber.

Verizon will bring fiber technology and services to Sacramento valued at more than $100 million. While the company isn’t disclosing when and where it will install new fiber strands, it will deploy hundreds of miles of fiber throughout the city, according to partnership agreement. In exchange, Sacramento will provide Verizon 20 years of free access to existing city-owned conduit, waive attachment fees for the first 101 small-cells, and lower attachment fees going forward.

The Sacramento deal is the latest evidence that next-generation wireless technology has changed the economics of fiber deployment. Because the wireless architecture requires thousands of small-cell facilities connected to a ubiquitous fiber networks, deals like those in Boston and Sacramento will likely become more common. Where will Verizon build fiber next?

Links:

Verizon Takes 'One Fiber' to More Cities (LightReading, June 22, 2017)

Verizon plans to build FiOS in Boston (Speed Matters, June 13, 2016)