The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) is encouraging eligible Vermonters to apply for funding through the Affordable Long Drop program before it ends in September. The program’s funds help connect homes to fiber broadband, targeting homeowners with long or nonstandard connections.

In some cases, families can’t experience the fiber advantage — despite its availability in their neighborhoods — because of installations that can cost thousands of dollars.

The program was funded at $6.1 million through the Capital Projects Fund (CPF), which was part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). VCBB Digital Equity Officer Britaney Watson told Telecompetitor last August that the program would pick up the entire cost of a long drop, provided funds are available, and the VCBB understands and agrees with the justification.

Several providers are participating in the program. Last year, two providers — NEK Broadband and CVFiber — said that there were hundreds of potentially eligible customers in their combined service areas of Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, and Washington counties. 

In addition to NEK and CVFiber, the participating providers are: 

• ECFiber (serving parts of Addison, Orange, Rutland, and Windsor counties)
• DVFiber (serving parts of Windham, Bennington, and Windsor counties)
• Franklin Telephone Company (serving parts of Franklin County)
• Maple Broadband (serving parts of Addison County)
• WCVT (serving parts of Addison, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, and Washington counties)

“Broadband availability alone is not enough if folks can’t afford to connect,” VCBB Executive Director Christine Hallquist said in a press release. “The Affordable Long Drop Program helps remove one of the final barriers to universal broadband access by helping Vermonters connect to reliable fiber broadband service. If you’ve been waiting to connect because of installation costs, now is the time to find out if you qualify.”

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Those interested in expanding broadband in California may be eligible for state funding from three Last Mile grant programs with application windows opening July 1, according to the California Department of Technology’s (CDT) Broadband Update.

A fourth program will begin accepting applications on October 1. All four programs detailed below are funded through the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF):

• The Tribal Technical Assistance Account: Provides grants to California Tribes and Tribal Consortia to improve voice and broadband communications. Grants are available for — but not limited to — market studies, feasibility studies, business plans, grant writing, consultant services, TTA-specific tribal staff hours, and administrative costs.
• The Broadband Adoption Account: Provides grants that will increase publicly available or after-school broadband access and digital inclusion, such as digital literacy training programs and public education for communities with limited broadband adoption.
• The Broadband Public Housing Account: Provides grants and loans to low-income communities, including but not limited to publicly supported housing developments, mobile home parks with low-income residents, and other housing developments. Funding can be used to finance projects that connect broadband networks offering free broadband service that meets or exceeds state standards.  
• The Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account: Subsidizes the cost of last-mile and middle-mile infrastructure to expand California’s broadband network. This is the program that will begin accepting applications on October 1.

More California updates

The CDT Broadband Update also included information on:

• The Broadband Loan Loss Reserve Fund: Supports the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) grant projects with local broadband infrastructure financing. The CPUC is considering the status of its Direct Loan Option, particularly as it pertains to Draft Resolution T-17925, which includes a streamlined process for bridge funding.
• Last Mile Federal Funding Account: The state has invested $1.23 billion in these grants, helping fund 122 broadband infrastructure projects in all 58 counties and bringing affordable broadband access directly to rural, Tribal, and low-income communities statewide.
• Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD): The state is awaiting updates from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) about the status of their BEAD Final Proposal for awards to applicants selected through the BEAD Subgrantee Selection Process.

Earlier this year, the CPUC approved $21 million in funding from its Last Mile Federal Funding Account (FFA) for projects in Contra Costa, Inyo, and Monterey counties.

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BROOMFIELD, Colo. — June 16, 206 — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Intrepid Fiber Networks, the nation’s leading wholesale open-access fiber infrastructure platform, today announced a significant expansion of its California network with a substantial investment to build fiber-to-the-premises infrastructure across the cities of Corona and Riverside in Riverside County. The deployment will bring symmetrical multi-gigabit broadband to over 50,000 homes and businesses, delivering the open-access fiber connectivity that Southern California communities deserve.

The Corona and Riverside builds are Intrepid’s first deployment in the Inland Empire and its second California region overall, following the company’s San Diego County debut in San Marcos and Vista earlier this year. Construction is expected to begin immediately, with service available to residents and businesses in 2026.

“Corona and Riverside mark our first step into the Inland Empire, and it’s an area we’ve been focused on since we entered California,” said Jack Waters, CEO of Intrepid Fiber Networks. “The growth in the region has outpaced the broadband infrastructure serving it, and households and businesses deserve better than what’s available today. We’re investing in a network that delivers speed, reliability, and choice this region needs to keep growing.”

“We’re excited to have Intrepid bringing fiber internet to our residents. What stands out most about Intrepid is their open-access model, which by design, invites multiple service providers onto the same network. For Corona families and businesses, that translates to more options, better service, and a range of pricing that reflects a fair market price. Fast, reliable internet throughout the City will help keep our community connected, support local businesses, and help us build a community where everyone can thrive,” said Corona Mayor Jacque Casillas.

Residents and businesses in Corona and Riverside who are interested in learning more about Intrepid’s network build, checking service availability, or signing up for construction updates can visit intrepidfiber.com.

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Iron Mountain, MI – CCI Systems Inc. is pleased to announce that it has acquired Layton Surveys, a respected provider of comprehensive surveying and geospatial services. This strategic acquisition enhances CCI Systems’ capabilities and supports continued growth across key infrastructure and utility markets.

Layton Surveys brings extensive experience in delivering a wide range of professional surveying services, including land surveying, construction staking, ALTA surveys, boundary surveys, right-of-way and easement services, aerial mapping, hydrographic surveys, and specialized support for telecom, EV charging infrastructure, and transmission line projects. Their strong reputation for precision, reliability, and technical expertise makes them a natural addition to CCI Systems’ expanding portfolio.

We are excited to welcome the Layton Surveys team to CCI Systems, a 100% employee-owned company. The addition of their skilled professionals strengthens our ability to deliver integrated, high-quality solutions to our clients. This acquisition aligns with our long-term growth strategy and commitment to expanding the breadth and depth of our services while continuing to drive innovation across the industries we serve. Layton Surveys also represents a strong cultural fit with CCI Systems as Layton Surveys has built their business around doing things the right way, taking pride in their work, supporting their customers, and investing in their people. That aligns closely with our employee ownership mindset and the accountability, care, and long-term thinking that comes with it.

Willis Long, Layton Surveys owner, stated, “Joining CCI Systems represents an exciting opportunity for our team. We are proud of the work we’ve accomplished and the relationships we’ve built, and we look forward to continuing that legacy while expanding our capabilities as part of a larger organization that shares our commitment to quality and service.”

Nick Cutler, Vice President of Network Solutions at CCI Systems, stated, “We’re really excited to have Layton Surveys joining the team. They bring a level of expertise in surveying that fits naturally with what we’re already doing in Network Solutions. It helps us connect more of the lifecycle, from early planning all the way through execution, and ultimately puts us in a better position to support our customers. Their expertise strengthens our ability to serve clients across a diverse range of projects and markets, and I’m looking forward to what we can build together.”

Telecompetitor

Plainfield, CT – [June 16, 2026] — Sertex Broadband Solutions, a regional leader in fiber optic infrastructure services throughout the Northeast, today announced its acquisition of Trenchworks Inc., a Maine-based telecommunications construction company specializing in aerial and underground fiber optic infrastructure deployment. The acquisition marks a significant step in Sertex’s strategic expansion across northern New England and reinforces the company’s commitment to broadband deployment, workforce development, and long-term investment in Maine and the region.

The acquisition expands Sertex’s construction capacity in Maine, immediately adding four experienced field crews, specialized equipment, and a highly skilled workforce with deep local knowledge and strong relationships throughout the state’s telecommunications sector. Former Trenchworks owners Ryan Daggett and Brock Hagopian, along with eight employees, have joined the Sertex team and will operate from the company’s recently opened Sidney regional office. Daggett will serve as Sertex’s Operations Manager for Maine and New Hampshire, overseeing regional field operations and growth initiatives. With the addition of the 10 former Trenchworks team members and two recent hires, Sertex now employs 12 fiber professionals working exclusively in Maine.

The move comes as Sertex continues to expand its role in some of the region’s most significant broadband infrastructure projects, including construction of approximately 450 miles of the MOOSE Net middle-mile fiber network, a statewide initiative designed to improve broadband access and connectivity for rural Maine communities.

“This acquisition positions Sertex for the future and is an important step toward expanding our workforce in Maine,” said Michael Solitro, founder and CEO of Sertex Broadband Solutions. “As broadband investment accelerates across northern New England, we are building the resources and local presence necessary to deliver large-scale projects safely, efficiently, and at the highest level of quality. Trenchworks gives us an established foundation and a talented team that shares our values and commitment to excellence as we ramp up construction of the MOOSE Net middle mile network.”

Founded in Connecticut more than 30 years ago, Sertex has grown into a leading fiber infrastructure contractor in the Northeast, serving telecommunications providers, utilities, municipalities, and public broadband initiatives throughout the region. The company has earned a reputation for tackling complex deployments in challenging environments while maintaining a strong focus on safety, quality workmanship, and customer service.

The acquisition reinforces Sertex’s commitment to creating long-term employment opportunities and developing its skilled broadband workforce throughout New England. Through its “earn while you learn” TIRAP apprenticeships – a structured program approved by the Maine Department of Labor that combines paid, hands-on work experience with documented training – Sertex demonstrates its strong commitment to workforce development and career advancement. The company currently has eight employees enrolled in the program and plans to extend participation opportunities to eligible staff in its Maine regional office as they meet program requirements.

Founded in 2022, Trenchworks established itself as a respected provider of aerial and underground communications construction services across Maine. Its experienced workforce has supported hundreds of miles of fiber deployment projects for internet service providers, utilities, and public broadband programs throughout the state.

With all active contracts and customer relationships now transitioned to Sertex, the Trenchworks team will continue serving Maine customers and communities as part of Sertex, maintaining the same commitment to quality, safety, and service that has defined both organizations.

Telecompetitor

In this week’s episode of The Broadband Exchange, we present findings from Telecompetitor’s State of AI in Rural Broadband study. Special guests — Pivot Senior Insights Manager Steve Boespflug and Telecompetitor CEO Dave Nieuwstraten — walk us through fascinating information about how rural broadband providers are currently using AI.

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Native American tribes can avail themselves of two new broadband funding opportunities from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Some of the money will come from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) and some will come from the Native Entities Grant Program (NEGP). Together, $790 million will be available to Tribal and Native communities.

The funds can be used to advance broadband connectivity on Tribal lands, promote infrastructure availability, and support related activities.

The TBCP is a $3 billion program directed to Tribal Governments, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Tribal Organizations and Native Corporations, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to be used for broadband deployment on tribal lands, as well as for telehealth, distance learning, and broadband affordability.

The NEGP is for entities including Indian Tribes, Alaska Native entities, and Native Hawaiian organizations. It establishes a competitive process to make Grant Funds available to Native Entities to carry out activities consistent with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The application window is open for both programs opened yesterday and closes September 17, 2026. NTIA expects to make awards on a rolling basis beginning in spring 2027. Additional information is available on NTIA’s BroadbandUSA website.

The need for better broadband for Tribal communities is evident, with between 18% and 25% of people living in those communities lacking reliable access to broadband internet, according to a recent report from the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA).

Telecompetitor

Most rural broadband providers expect AI to change how they operate, even as the majority remain in the early stages of using it, according to Telecompetitor’s 2026 Rural Broadband State of AI study. Of the 132 providers surveyed, 91% said they anticipate a significant impact on both their own companies and the wider industry.

That expectation has not yet translated into deep adoption, and the findings suggest that many providers are not as far behind as they might feel. Nearly half of respondents described their AI use as limited or informal, while about half said they are experimenting with the technology. Only 1% reported integrating AI into core systems or workflows, indicating the bar most providers measure themselves against is lower than they probably think.

Strategy remains a gap as well. Our study found that 82% of providers have no defined or formal AI plan, and only 4% have a formal AI strategy tied to business priorities. Most providers acknowledged they need a strategy even if they have not built one, and the data showed smaller operators were the least likely to have a roadmap in place, in part because writing and owning a strategy requires time and staff that lean teams may lack.

Where providers have deployed AI, the use cases have tended to stay close to the back office. Internal knowledge base searches led the list of AI-implemented efforts at 43%, followed by targeted marketing at 39%. Providers were most heavily evaluating cyber threat detection and network monitoring, while only exploring customer-facing applications such as chatbots and call quality assurance.

The study found that a lack of internal skills or confidence using AI tools was the top challenge, cited by 68% of providers, followed by uncertainty about AI vendors and solutions at 53%. 

The findings here represent a portion of the full study, which also examines where providers expect AI to deliver the most value, how they view vendor partnerships, and what steps their peers recommend for building momentum. The complete report, sponsored by Innovative Systems, distills responses from companies serving fewer than 5,000 to more than 20,000 residential subscribers. More information on how to access the report will be available soon.

In May, Telecompetitor spoke with Innovative Systems CEO Scott Alcott, who offered his framework for agentic AI and suggested that company leaders should drive broadband providers’ use of AI.

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Bigleaf Networks, which provides a performance control layer for multi-carrier, multi-path enterprises, announced today that its Multipath Broadband platform is available.

The company says that Multipath Broadband, which was developed in partnership with Connected Solutions Group (CSG), combines Verizon 5G fixed wireless access and Starlink on Bigleaf’s intelligent network performance platform.

Multipath Broadbands is designed for multi-site and distributed businesses. The company says it helps maintain fast and reliable application performance where traditional wired internet is unavailable, unreliable, or too expensive. 

5G + satellite approaches to redundancy and network quality use traditional failover technology and passive backup circuits. Multipath Broadband is a new approach in which both Verizon 5G and Starlink remain active. The Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) transmission is always present as a working path alongside Verizon 5G. This adds capacity, resiliency, and performance, the press release said.

Bigleaf continuously monitors latency, jitter, and packet loss across both connections and automatically routes traffic over the non-disruptive path. Multipath Broadband also includes same-IP failover, circuit bonding, and multiple static IPs. This enables voice, video, VPN, cloud, and transaction-based applications to remain connected in the face of changing conditions on the network, according to the company.

Multipath Broadband is available through Connected Solutions Group at monthly prices starting at $265. Professional site surveys, installation, ongoing management, and 24/7 support are included.

“Pairing 5G with satellite isn’t new, but using both as active, optimized paths is,” Bigleaf CEO Greg Davis, said in the announcement of Multipath Broadband. “”Bigleaf turns Starlink into a true performance path rather than a backup that sits idle until something breaks. Same-IP failover, circuit bonding, and real-time application routing are what separate this from just another basic failover bundle.”

Last month, Telecompetitor spoke with Contrivian GEO Grant Kirkwoode about the company’s Contrivian Constellation product. Similar to Multipath Broadband, Contrivian Constellation provides redundancy by creating multiple paths and using header data to retransmit and recombine frames. 

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Ritter Communications and Great Plains Communications — both owned by private investment firm Grain Management — are merging into a single fiber broadband provider operating under a brand called Rightfiber. 

The combination pairs Jonesboro, Arkansas-based Ritter Communications with Blair, Nebraska-based Great Plains Communications, two providers that each carry more than a century of operating history. According to the announcement, the new organization will span 20 states once the change is implemented. Current Ritter CEO Heath Simpson will lead Rightfiber as CEO, while Great Plains CEO Todd Foje will become executive chairman.

The Rightfiber name isn’t entirely new. Since 2021, Ritter has used the name RightFiber for its residential fiber service, expanding the brand into markets like Paducah, Kentucky, and most recently through the acquisition of Ruston, Louisiana’s city-owned fiber network. Part of the merger with Great Plains includes making the f in Rightfiber lowercase.

Once finalized, the merger positions Rightfiber to serve more than 400 communities across 20 states, connecting 300,000 homes and businesses via a 28,000-mile fiber network. Grain Management said it expects the company to grow revenue and profitability through both organic expansion and acquisitions, while marketing itself as a partner to communities, businesses, and large data center operators.

The firm said the union of Ritter Communications and Great Plains Communications would make Rightfiber one of the country’s largest privately owned telecom operators.

Ritter already operates in seven states — Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Oklahoma — where it serves more than 65,000 customers across 197 communities. It provides telecom, video, and data center services in addition to its fiber broadband lineup. 

Great Plains’ footprint covers nearly 200 communities in five states — Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Nebraska — and runs on more than 20,000 miles of fiber that carries high-speed internet, managed Ethernet, and other connectivity offerings to homes and businesses.

In a statement, Simpson said Ritter and Great Plains share a focus on customers, communities, and employees, and that combining them would create growth opportunities while preserving local service relationships. Foje said the providers held similar values and cultures and that the combined company would extend fiber connectivity to underserved areas. 

The deal still needs regulatory clearance and other routine approvals before closing.

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