FBA Survey: Many Smaller ISPs Opt to Own Middle Mile
The group found 70 percent of 38 surveyed ISPs owned and operated their own middle mile.
NASHVILLE, June 5, 2025 – Rural broadband providers are increasingly choosing to operate their own middle mile infrastructure, according to a report from the Fiber Broadband Association.
The report, released at the association’s annual conference here this week, said 70 percent of the surveyed ISPs owned and operated their own middle mile infrastructure from internet exchange points to their central offices, with the rest leasing capacity from another provider. All the surveyed providers serving more than 50 anchor institutions owned their middle mile, according to the group, but the report didn’t specify the exact number.
The group surveyed 38 rural ISPs across 25 states, and respondents averaged 12,000 subscribers.
FBA said middle mile ownership was a good thing, writing that “owning and operating the middle mile provides a clear advantage for the Internet provider.”
The group said ownership improved balance sheets by reducing backhaul costs, which can be especially high in rural areas, although deployment required a significant amount of cash.
“Equally important, owning infrastructure gives ISPs a stronger role in the communities they serve. It makes it easier to connect anchor institutions like schools, hospitals, and libraries – delivering the bandwidth these facilities need while strengthening public trust,” the group wrote.
The group said rural operators should look into forming cooperatives with other ISPs to share in the cost of deploying and benefits of operating middle mile infrastructure.
“By pooling resources and aligning deployment strategies, rural operators can overcome geographic and financial barriers, ensuring that even the most remote communities are connected to high-capacity, future-ready broadband infrastructure,” the report said.
The report also argued policymakers should support open-access networks, in which multiple providers can lease capacity on the same physical infrastructure. The model is becoming more common, with providers like UTOPIA Fiber expanding and AT&T and T-Mobile partnering with investment firms to stand up open-access networks with themselves as the anchor tenant.
“Adopting middle mile open-access frameworks promotes the development of multi-use infrastructure, allowing multiple service providers to share the same network. This approach fosters innovation, encourages competition, and reduces overall costs,” FBA wrote.
The group noted that while several public funding sources exist for middle mile deployments, like the Commerce Department’s $1 billion middle mile program, ISPs still reported the high price tag as a main barrier to deploying or upgrading their infrastructure.
