Open Access Networks Gain Momentum as Industry Shifts Toward Shared Infrastructure
Industry leaders say the broadband sector is increasingly embracing open access and shared network infrastructure models that were once considered off-limits in the U.S. market.
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2026 — The broadband industry is undergoing a shift toward shared network infrastructure and open access models, with major carriers and rural wireless providers alike embracing a concept that was once considered taboo in the American market, industry leaders said Wednesday.
Speaking on a Broadband Breakfast Live Online panel Wednesday focused on network and infrastructure sharing, executives from across the telecom sector described accelerating adoption of open access networks, arrangements in which multiple internet service providers deliver service over a single physical network.
"The words open and shared were a bit dangerous in the past," said Ashley Poling, vice president of business development at COS Systems. "The market is consolidating, the market is looking to maximize revenue, and the market is opening up to multiple ISPs” for end users.
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George Wellings, president of network access partnerships at open access operator SiFi Networks, said the pace of adoption has accelerated significantly in recent months. SiFi, one of the first private sector providers to pioneer the open access model in the U.S. more than 12 years ago, recalled early skepticism from American ISPs.
"I was kind of disappointed with the response that I got early doors — what is this voodoo rubbish you're bringing from Europe," Wellings said. "But over time we've proven the model."
SiFi Networks is now active in 11 cities across five states, Wellings said, with ambitions to expand further as competition for fiber infrastructure intensifies.
How deep is the infrastructure sharing?
The panel drew a distinction between passive infrastructure sharing, such as tower co-location, and more complex open access arrangements that split the network at the data link layer. Poling described that technical boundary as key to enabling competition.
"The simplest way that we're starting to define this is a Layer 2 split," she said, referring to the data link layer in the Open Systems Interconnection model of communications networking. "That allows you to differentiate in technology, differentiate in the number of ISPs."
Walter Tustin, federal funding program manager at the tower company Crown Castle, said infrastructure sharing has long been central to the tower and fiber company's business model, pointing to major wireless carriers' decisions to sell off their tower assets in 2013 and 2017.
"Our complete business model is network sharing," Tustin said, adding that shared infrastructure delivers better pricing and quality of service when it works well. Problems arise, he cautioned, "when somebody gets a little too greedy" about the revenues for retail versus wholesale portions of the network.
Jonathan Van, executive vice president at Element8, an infrastructure company focusing on fixed wireless assets and which operates across seven states, said next-generation wireless technology has dramatically expanded the capacity available for sharing.
"We could serve 500,000 customers on the network if we wanted to," Van said, describing the company's Tarana-based network. "It was architected to be shared from the beginning."
Research cited by Wellings suggested that consumer satisfaction improves markedly simply by offering a choice of providers. "Just by adding one other choice, their satisfaction, even if they choose to remain with their current provider, is enhanced dramatically," he said.
The panelists converged on standardization as the critical factor for scaling shared networks. Gregg Shepperd, senior engagement leader at 1finity America, a Fujitsu company, emphasized the need for consistent operational support systems.
"The most important thing is having the operational standardization," Shepperd said, "that provides the flexibility to provide open access with ease and streamlining from the time you actually take an order till you get revenue."
The discussion came one week before the BEAD Implementation Summit, scheduled for March 18 in Washington.
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