Fiber Broadband Association Marks Industry Investment in U.S. Manufacturing

Economic Impact Underscores Importance of NTIA BEAD Program and Fiber Deployment with $650 million invested and over 5,600 jobs created to date

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today at Fiber Connect 2025, the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) released data that shows the positive potential of NTIA BEAD (Broadband Equity Access and Deployment) broadband infrastructure funding program, reflected through its members’ investment response to comply with Build America, Buy America (BABA) for the program. A number of FBA’s BABA-compliant members reported nearly $650 million of investments to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and 5,600 new jobs created to date. This effort has led to an additional 1,325,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity added with either new manufacturing facilities being built and/or expanded over the past two years -- representing 72+ manufacturing facilities across 28 states. Fiber is the primary network technology required by the BEAD Program to comply with BABA.

"The fiber broadband industry creates thousands of jobs and contributes billions of dollars to the American economy. The BEAD program has catalyzed FBA members to onshore fiber manufacturing investment and jobs. The continuation of BEAD funding is critical for closing the digital divide, preserving good jobs, stimulating the economy, and maintaining American leadership," said Marissa Mitrovich, Vice President of Public Policy, Fiber Broadband Association.

The Buy America Preference applies to BEAD funded infrastructure projects. In a February 2024 Notice of Final Waiver, the Department of Commerce (DOC) issued a limited waiver for certain construction materials and manufactured products used in BEAD funded projects. For instance, DOC found that all optic glass used in manufacturing fiber and fiber optic cable must be BABA compliant, although it provided a waiver for non-optic-glass inputs to the optical fiber pre-form process, and that key fiber transmission electronics needed to be manufactured in the U.S., although it waived the 55 percent cost of components requirement needed. The BEAD BABA Waiver is available at https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/2024-02/BABA%20Waiver%20Signed.pdf.

“The amount of time, effort, commitment, and training required to bring these jobs back to the U.S. cannot be understated, nor should the value these jobs and facilities are having on the communities that will benefit from this new capacity,” said Anis Khemakhem, Chief Marketing Officer, Clearfield. “The BABA commitment reaches every level of the companies involved, permeating the supply chain and demanding focused organizational alignment. The investment spans from soft costs, such as training, to hard costs, such as product tooling.”

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About the Fiber Broadband Association

The Fiber Broadband Association is the largest and only trade association that represents the complete fiber ecosystem of service providers, manufacturers, industry experts, and deployment specialists dedicated to the advancement of fiber broadband deployment and the pursuit of a world where communications are limitless, advancing quality of life and digital equity anywhere and everywhere. The Fiber Broadband Association helps providers, communities, and policy makers make informed decisions about how, where, and why to build better fiber broadband networks. Since 2001, these companies, organizations, and members have worked with communities and consumers in mind to build the critical infrastructure that provides the economic and societal benefits that only fiber can deliver. The Fiber Broadband Association is part of the Fibre Council Global Alliance, which is a platform of six global FTTH Councils in North America, LATAM, Europe, MEA, APAC, and South Africa. Learn more at fiberbroadband.org.