Communication Key for Public-Private Partnerships, ISPs Say

NASHVILLE, July 28, 2024 – Communication with government entities is key for public-private broadband projects, network operators said at the Fiber Connect conference here in Nashville on Sunday.

“If they don’t understand your front end activities take nine months or six months before you’re actually seeing construction crews out there starting to build the project, they can begin to panic or feel like you’re going to miss your build timelines,” said Bobbie Gilbert, senior vice president of public affairs at Ripple Fiber.

Derek Kelly, Lumos’s vice president of market development, pointed to a grant project he’s currently working on that requires an Army Corps of Engineers permit in order to cross a river.

“That’s a yearlong process, sometimes more, sometimes less,” he said. “So let’s raise that flag very early on in the process – there’s going to be no visible progress whatsoever until we can get across this river.”

In April, T-Mobile announced a joint venture with Lumos’s parent company in which the wireless carrier is putting up $950 million to expand the Lumos fiber footprint.

The joint venture, which is set to be solidified later this year or early 2025, aims to pass 3.5 million homes by 2028, which could set Lumos up for many public-private partnerships in the form of BEAD grants.

“It goes a lot smoother if you tell them when there’s three months left than if you tell them ‘Hey, the project’s due next week and we’re not going to make it.’ There’s just a complete shift in mindset,” Kelly said. “These are reasonable people, they will understand that there are roadblocks.”