Fiber Broadband Association Rings in New Year Touting 100 Gbps Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 1, 2025 – The Fiber Broadband Association rung in the New Year on Wednesday with a declaration by its new board chair that “the only thing that is certain in 2025 is uncertainty.”

Speaking on a Fiber for Breakfast session on Wednesday morning, FBA’s 2025 Board Chair Ariane Schaffer, head of U.S. federal and state policy for GFiber, spoke of the impact that Republican-controlled governance in Washington will have on the broadband industry.

While details about likely federal policies this year are uncertain, Schaffer said there were two certain areas of interest that Republican policy-makers will pursue in 2025: An effort to roll back regulatory hurdles that have hampered broadband deployment, and an emphasis on supply chain issues regarding where telecommunications equipment are manufactured.

Schaffer, in conversation with FBA CEO Gary Bolton, highlighted upcoming activities of the association, which represents the manufacturers and providers offering fiber-optic broadband services in the United States.

Unlike many industry trade groups dominated by service providers, Bolton said there was an equal split on the group's board in representation between manufacturers of fiber gear and deployers of fiber broadband services.

Even so, Schaffer and Bolton touted the unity that exists among FBA members: “There is very little infighting in our trade association,” said Schaffer.

The two also unveiled upcoming Washington-focused events, including its group’s first public policy conference in Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 26 and Thursday, Feb. 27.

It will be followed by the group’s annual Fiber on the Hill Day, a demonstration and celebration of fiber-optic equipment and services at the Capitol on Wednesday, April 9.

Schaffer also noted the progress of GFiber, the Google-spawned fiber-optic provider that is now part of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. 

In 2024, Shaffer said, GFiber launched services in Nebraska, Idaho and Colorado. GFiber sees its mission on working toward 100 Gigabit per second (Gbps) speeds and believe that moving toward such a dramatic increase in quality is necessary, she said.

The mandate for 100 Gbps service means extraordinary speeds to the home, extraordinary speeds within the home through upgraded Wi-Fi standards, greater resiliency within such networks, and re-imaging digital customer support, Schaffer said.