The U.S. broadband market will continue to be a bright spot for the economy in 2024 thanks to ongoing digitization for enterprises and consumers as well as the deployment of unprecedented amounts of public and private capital. Despite those powerful industry tailwinds, operators face several obstacles to executing build plans on-time and on-budget. Specifically, those include navigating the current labor market for both contractors and employees, gaining access to capital given the increase in interest rates and tightening credit conditions, and managing through the permitting process that has proven to be a bottleneck for fiber-network builds.
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Jeff Johnston
Jeff Johnston is a lead communications economist in CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange research division, where he focuses on the communications industry. His work revolves around identifying emerging technologies, business models, risks and opportunities within the industry.
CoBank is a $158 billion cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. It’s a member of the Farm Credit System. Visit www.cobank.com for more information.
