US data centers will need an additional 214 million fiber miles by 2029, taking the total from 159.6 million to 372.9 million, according to a Fiber Broadband Association study by RVA LLC, and the owners of long-haul routes are already selling that capacity forward. Lumen has booked nearly $13 billion in Private Connectivity Fabric deals with hyperscalers (Lumen Investor Day, February 2026), Uniti signed the largest contract in its history, a 20-year deal worth over $500 million for 1,100 route miles (Uniti, January 2026), and Zayo now runs 224,000 route miles in North America after absorbing Crown Castle’s fiber business (Zayo, May 2026). The buildout behind this sits next to the compute boom covered in our data center statistics. We aggregated data from Zayo, Lumen, Uniti, Crown Castle, the Fiber Broadband Association, Cartesian, Dell’Oro Group, NTIA, Ofcom, Corning and several market research firms, all listed in the methodology.
TL;DR
- Data center fiber miles forecast to rise from 159.6 million to 372.9 million by 2029, +214 million (FBA and RVA LLC, AI and Data Center study 2025).
- Long-haul route miles serving hyperscale data centers forecast to roughly double, from about 95,000 to about 187,000 by 2029 (FBA and RVA LLC, 2025).
- Lumen’s Private Connectivity Fabric deals reached nearly $13 billion (Lumen, 2026 Investor Day).
- Lumen deployed 17 million intercity fiber miles by year-end 2025 and targets about 58 million by 2031 (Lumen, February 2026).
- Zayo’s network spans 224,000 route miles and 32 million fiber miles after the Crown Castle deal (Zayo, May 2026).
- Uniti reports approximately 240,000 fiber route miles and 11.2 million strand miles (Uniti, Q4 2025 results).
- Uniti signed a 20-year, $500 million-plus dark fiber contract for 1,100 route miles (Uniti, January 2026).
- Zayo plans to add 15,000 route miles through 2030, including more than 8,000 miles of new long-haul fiber (Zayo, August 2026).
- Crown Castle’s fiber and small cell sale closed at $8.5 billion combined (Crown Castle and Zayo, May 2026).
- Optical transport equipment forecast to grow 16% in 2026 to more than $18 billion, the first time since 2000 (Dell’Oro Group, May 2026).
- Data center interconnect optical revenue grew 45% year over year in Q2 2026 (Dell’Oro Group, August 2026).
- Typical underground fiber construction costs $18.00 per foot, aerial $8.00 per foot (FBA and Cartesian, Fiber Deployment Cost Annual Report 2025).
1. AI Demand: Why Route Miles Are Doubling
The dark fiber story of 2026 is a demand forecast turning into signed contracts. The FBA’s study, written by RVA LLC, projects that hyperscale data center route miles will rise about 2x, from 95 thousand to about 187 thousand by 2029, while fiber miles grow 2.3x from 159.6 million to 372.9 million (Broadband Breakfast summary of the FBA study, August 2025). Fiber miles grow faster than route miles because most of the new demand is for more strands on paths that already exist, not for new paths.
The breakdown makes that explicit: 109 million of the 214 million new fiber miles are upgrades on existing routes, 66 million connect new data centers and only 38 million go into new long-haul routes. The study also counts 573 new data centers expected over three years, each needing about 135 new fiber route miles for short interconnections. That is the economic case for dark fiber leasing: a hyperscaler that needs dozens of strands between two campuses would rather light its own glass than buy wavelengths.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Data center fiber miles, 2024 to 2029 | 159.6 million to 372.9 million (+214 million, 2.3x) | FBA and RVA LLC, AI and Data Center study, July 2025 |
| Hyperscale route miles, 2024 to 2029 | About 95,000 to about 187,000 (+92,000) | FBA and RVA LLC, July 2025 |
| New fiber miles for upgrades on existing routes | 109 million | FBA and RVA LLC, July 2025 |
| New fiber miles to connect new data centers | 66 million | FBA and RVA LLC, July 2025 |
| New fiber miles for new long-haul routes | 38 million | FBA and RVA LLC, July 2025 |
| New data centers expected in three years | 573 | FBA and RVA LLC, July 2025 |
| New route miles per new hyperscale site | About 135 | FBA and RVA LLC, July 2025 |
| AI-related bandwidth demand growth by 2030 | Up to 6x (2x to 6x range) | Zayo, July 2025 and April 2026 |
Context note: the FBA study forecasts a tripling of hyperscale data center capacity by 2029 as the driver. The full white paper is published on the FBA site, but its pages blocked automated access, so figures were read through Broadband Breakfast’s report of the study and cross-checked against search summaries of the FBA release.
The equipment market confirms the traffic is real. Dell’Oro Group forecasts the optical transport equipment market to grow 16% in 2026, surpassing $18 billion for the first time since 2000, after raising its forecast from 10% (Dell’Oro Group, May 2026). In Q2 2026, data center interconnect revenue from IPoDWDM ZR/ZR+ optics and WDM systems grew 45% year over year, and cloud providers accounted for 34% of optical transport revenue (Dell’Oro via TelecomTV, August 2026).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Optical transport market growth forecast, 2026 | 16% (to more than $18 billion) | Dell’Oro Group, May 2026 |
| Optical transport market growth, Q1 2026 | 20% year over year | Dell’Oro Group, May 2026 |
| Direct DCI purchase revenue growth, Q1 2026 | About 40% year over year | Dell’Oro Group, May 2026 |
| Optical transport market growth, Q2 2026 | 15% year over year | Dell’Oro Group, August 2026 |
| DCI revenue growth (ZR/ZR+ and WDM), Q2 2026 | 45% year over year | Dell’Oro Group, August 2026 |
| Cloud providers’ share of optical transport revenue, Q2 2026 | 34% | Dell’Oro Group, August 2026 |
| Disaggregated WDM optical line system growth | 80% year over year | Dell’Oro Group, August 2026 |
2. Who Owns the Routes: Carrier Footprints
Three companies dominate US dark fiber supply, and their numbers are now large enough that unit choice matters. Zayo reports 224,000 route miles and 32 million fiber miles across North America after the Crown Castle deal (Zayo, May 2026), up from 146,000 route miles and 18.7 million fiber miles when the deal was announced in March 2025. A route mile is one mile of path; a fiber mile counts every strand in it, which is why fiber miles grow much faster when operators pull high-count cable.
Uniti, which merged with Windstream, reports approximately 240,000 fiber route miles, 11.2 million fiber strand miles, more than 300 metro markets and connections to more than 800,000 buildings and data centers (Uniti Q4 2025 slides via Investing.com). Lumen’s FY2024 annual report cites 340,000 fiber route miles and 163,000 on-net buildings, plus 22 million miles of metro fiber outside its intercity build (Lumen FY2024 annual report, SEC).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Zayo route miles (North America) | 224,000 | Zayo, May 2026 |
| Zayo fiber miles | 32 million | Zayo, May 2026 |
| Zayo route and fiber miles before Crown Castle deal | 146,000 route miles, 18.7 million fiber miles | Zayo, March 2025 |
| Zayo data centers connected / cloud on-ramps | 1,900+ / 380+ | Zayo network page, 2026 |
| Uniti fiber route miles / strand miles | About 240,000 / 11.2 million | Uniti, Q4 2025 results presentation |
| Uniti buildings and data centers connected | More than 800,000 in 300+ metro markets | Uniti, Q4 2025 results presentation |
| Lumen fiber route miles / on-net buildings | 340,000 / 163,000 | Lumen, FY2024 annual report |
| Lumen metro fiber miles | 22 million | Lumen, FY2024 annual report |
Context note: Zayo’s own network page lists 240,000+ route miles and 34 million fiber miles worldwide, while its press releases cite 224,000 route miles and 32 million fiber miles for North America. We use the press release figures and flag the difference. International routes on the seabed are a separate market, covered in our submarine cable statistics.
3. Hyperscaler Deals: How Dark Fiber Is Being Leased
Hyperscaler contracts are now long, large and paid partly up front, which makes dark fiber look more like infrastructure finance than telecom sales. Lumen’s Private Connectivity Fabric deals reached nearly $13 billion by its February 2026 Investor Day, including $2.5 billion in recent agreements (Lumen, February 2026). Its FY2024 annual report had put the figure at $8.5 billion, with Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta named as buyers. Lumen also says it has no additional PCF business included in its long-range plan, a sign the company sees the first wave as a financing event, not a recurring revenue line.
Uniti’s contracts show the same structure at smaller scale. Its January 2026 award is a 20-year contract with a total contract value of over $500 million, funding 1,100 route miles across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee (Uniti, January 2026). An earlier Q4 2024 award with an existing hyperscale customer covers more than 130 route miles of new multi-conduit systems between Montgomery, Alabama and the Meridian, Mississippi area, also on a 20-year term (Uniti). Uniti’s wholesale president said hyperscalers typically want three, four or more fiber paths into strategic data centers.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lumen PCF deals to date | Nearly $13 billion | Lumen, 2026 Investor Day |
| Lumen recent new PCF agreements | $2.5 billion | Lumen, 2026 Investor Day |
| Lumen PCF sales at FY2024 annual report | $8.5 billion (Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta) | Lumen, FY2024 annual report |
| Uniti largest-ever contract | 20 years, over $500 million, 1,100 route miles | Uniti, January 13, 2026 |
| Uniti Q4 2024 hyperscaler award | 20 years, 130+ route miles of new multi-conduit | Uniti, 2024 |
| Uniti Fiber Infrastructure revenue, Q1 2026 | $294.8 million, about 65% margin | Uniti Q1 2026 results (SEC 8-K) |
| Uniti upfront customer payments, Q1 2026 | $152.4 million (vs $70.4 million segment capex) | Uniti Q1 2026 results (SEC 8-K) |
| Uniti Fiber Infrastructure new bookings MRR | $1.7 million (Q4 2025, record matched), $1.6 million (Q1 2026) | Uniti Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 results |
Context note: the upfront payments in Uniti’s Q1 2026 quarter ($152.4 million) were more than double the segment’s capital spending ($70.4 million) in the same period (Uniti Q1 2026 results, SEC). That is the IRU model at work: the customer pays much of the build cost before the fiber is lit, and the carrier keeps ownership of the route and spare strands.
4. The Construction Wave: New Long-Haul Routes and Fiber Supply
The second-order effect of these contracts is a construction boom not seen since the early 2000s. Lumen deployed 17 million intercity fiber miles by year-end 2025, plans 47 million by the end of 2028 and about 58 million by 2031, up from 12 million in 2022 (Lumen, February 2026). By September 2025 it had added more than 2.2 million intercity fiber miles (2,500+ route miles) that year, had construction under way at 176 in-line amplifier sites and had completed IRU conduit deployments across 55 additional routes (Lumen, September 2025).
Zayo’s plan has grown with each announcement: 5,000 new long-haul route miles in July 2025, an 8,000 route-mile program in April 2026 (six new routes totaling 3,000 route miles plus overbuilds of nine corridors spanning more than 5,000 route miles, about 15 million new and overbuilt fiber miles), and by August 2026 a target of 15,000 route miles through 2030, including more than 8,000 miles of new long-haul fiber (Zayo, August 2026). The first three AI routes were 385 miles (Chicago to Columbus), 521 miles (Chicago to Minneapolis) and 123 miles (Phoenix to Tucson) (Zayo, July 2025).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lumen intercity fiber miles | 12M (2022), 17M (2025), 47M (2028 target), ~58M (2031 target) | Lumen, FY2024 annual report and February 2026 |
| Lumen intercity additions in 2025 (to September) | 2.2M+ fiber miles, 2,500+ route miles | Lumen, September 2025 |
| Lumen in-line amplifier sites under construction | 176 | Lumen, September 2025 |
| Lumen 400G-enabled network | 100,000+ route miles | Lumen, September 2025 |
| Zayo long-haul build target through 2030 | 15,000 route miles (8,000+ miles new long-haul) | Zayo, August 2026 |
| Zayo April 2026 program | 8,000 route miles: 3,000 new, 5,000+ overbuild | Zayo via SDxCentral, April 2026 |
| Zayo first AI routes | 385 / 521 / 123 miles | Zayo, July 2025 |
| Uniti Phase One builds | 337 miles Tulsa-Little Rock, 145 miles Little Rock-Memphis | Uniti, January 2026 |
Glass supply has become a constraint in its own right. Meta signed a multiyear agreement worth up to $6 billion with Corning in January 2026 (Corning, January 2026), Verizon contracted for more than 80 million miles of high-density fiber from 2027 to 2032 (Verizon, September 2026), and AT&T signed a fiber supply deal worth more than $3 billion on September 29, 2026 (Corning, September 2026). RCR Wireless reports that Lumen had reserved 10% of Corning’s global fiber capacity for two years through the end of 2026.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Meta and Corning supply agreement | Up to $6 billion, multiyear | Corning, January 27, 2026 |
| Verizon and Corning supply agreement | 80+ million fiber miles, 2027 to 2032 | Verizon, September 8, 2026 |
| AT&T and Corning supply agreement | More than $3 billion | Corning, September 29, 2026 |
| Lumen reserved share of Corning fiber capacity | 10% for two years, through end of 2026 | RCR Wireless, September 2026 |
| Corning North Carolina employment increase (Meta deal) | 15% to 20% | Corning, January 2026 |
5. Consolidation: The 2026 Fiber M&A Wave
2026 was the year the US fiber map was redrawn by deals rather than trenches. Crown Castle’s sale of its fiber and small cell businesses closed on May 1, 2026 at a combined $8.5 billion, with Zayo paying $4.25 billion for Fiber Solutions and EQT’s Active Core Infrastructure fund paying $4.25 billion for Small Cells, now Arium Networks (Wireless Estimator, May 2026). Crown Castle had invested approximately $17.5 billion in fiber, so the exit priced the assets well below their cumulative build cost, and the company is now a pure-play owner of about 40,000 US towers.
The buyers are concentrating metro and long-haul assets in fewer hands. The Crown Castle assets were Zayo’s 50th and largest acquisition, built on more than $35 billion of Zayo investment in fiber (Zayo, May 2026). On the consumer side, Lumen sold its Mass Markets fiber business to AT&T for $5.75 billion, closed on February 2, 2026, transferring more than 4 million fiber locations and about 1 million subscribers in 11 states (The Desk, February 2026), and Verizon closed its Frontier acquisition on January 20, 2026 with almost 30 million fiber passings across 31 states and Washington, D.C. (Verizon, January 2026).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Crown Castle fiber and small cell sale | $8.5 billion combined, closed May 1, 2026 | Crown Castle via Wireless Estimator, May 2026 |
| Zayo price for Crown Castle Fiber Solutions | $4.25 billion | Zayo, March 2025 |
| Route miles and on-net locations added to Zayo | About 90,000 route miles, 40,000 enterprise locations | Zayo, May 2026 |
| Crown Castle cumulative fiber investment | About $17.5 billion | Crown Castle via Wireless Estimator, May 2026 |
| Crown Castle debt reduction / buyback from proceeds | More than $7.0 billion / $1.0 billion | Crown Castle via Wireless Estimator, May 2026 |
| AT&T purchase of Lumen Mass Markets fiber | $5.75 billion, 4M+ locations, ~1M subscribers | AT&T via The Desk, February 2026 |
| Verizon fiber passings after Frontier close | Almost 30 million, 31 states plus D.C. | Verizon, January 2026 |
| Zayo fiber spend in the five years before 2025 | More than $20 billion | Zayo, March 2025 |
Context note: the Lumen consumer sale left Lumen as a business-only carrier focused on enterprise and hyperscaler networking, which is why its Investor Day metrics center on intercity fiber miles and PCF contract value rather than broadband subscribers.
6. Build Costs, Public Funding and Regulation
Every dark fiber price ultimately reflects the cost of putting glass in the ground, and that cost keeps rising. The FBA and Cartesian Fiber Deployment Cost Annual Report 2025 puts typical underground construction at $18.00 per foot and aerial at $8.00 per foot, up 3% and 14% year over year (Cartesian, January 2026). Labor makes up 72% of underground and 64% of aerial costs, and 92% of respondents reported a cost increase in 2025, which explains why carriers are pulling higher-count cable through conduit they already own rather than digging new trenches.
Public money targets the middle mile that commercial leasing skips. NTIA’s Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program awarded nearly $980 million for more than 12,500 miles of new middle mile fiber in more than 370 counties across 40 states and Puerto Rico (NTIA BroadbandUSA). One award, to the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, combines 384 miles of new fiber with 100 miles of dark fiber leased on IRU terms. Middle mile capacity feeds last-mile fiber, which passed a record 11.8 million new US homes in 2025, as tracked in our fiber broadband statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Typical underground fiber cost | $18.00/ft (+3% year over year) | FBA and Cartesian, Fiber Deployment Cost Annual Report 2025 |
| Typical aerial fiber cost | $8.00/ft (+14% year over year) | FBA and Cartesian, 2025 report |
| Median labor cost, underground / aerial | $12.23/ft / $4.50/ft | FBA and Cartesian, 2025 report |
| Labor share of cost, underground / aerial | 72% / 64% | FBA and Cartesian, 2025 report |
| Respondents reporting a cost increase in 2025 | 92% (88% expect another rise) | FBA and Cartesian, 2025 report |
| NTIA middle mile awards | Nearly $980 million, 12,500+ miles of new fiber | NTIA BroadbandUSA, 2023 awards |
| US FTTH homes passed in 2025 | 11.8 million (record), 98.3 million total passings | FBA Fiber Deployment Survey via Light Reading, December 2025 |
Regulators outside the US treat dark fibre as a competition remedy rather than a product. In its Telecoms Access Review 2026-31 statement of 17 March 2026, effective from 1 April 2026, Ofcom requires Openreach to provide dark fibre at cost-based prices in Area 3, which covers 34% of UK postcode sectors, and makes dark fibre available for the first time on inter-exchange routes where Openreach faces only one competitor, while deregulating exchanges with two or more (Norton Rose Fulbright summary of the Ofcom statement).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| UK Area 3 (cost-based dark fibre required) | 34% of postcode sectors | Ofcom TAR 2026-31 statement, March 2026 |
| UK Area 2 (leased line price caps) | 54% of postcode sectors | Ofcom TAR 2026-31 statement, March 2026 |
| UK High Network Reach area | 9% of postcode sectors | Ofcom TAR 2026-31 statement, March 2026 |
| Review period | 1 April 2026 to 2031 | Ofcom TAR 2026-31 statement, March 2026 |
7. Market Size Forecasts: Where the Estimates Agree and Differ
Market research firms agree on direction and disagree on scale, which is normal for a market where much of the revenue sits inside long IRU contracts. Precedence Research values the global dark fiber network market at $8.87 billion in 2025 and projects $29.87 billion by 2035, a 12.91% CAGR, with North America contributing more than 32% of 2025 revenue and the US alone growing from $1.99 billion to $6.97 billion (Precedence Research).
Technavio projects faster growth over a shorter window: an increase of $12.50 billion from 2025 to 2030 at a 15.5% CAGR, with North America accounting for 38.4% of that growth and long-haul services valued at $4.31 billion in 2024 (Technavio). Grand View Research expects $13.45 billion by 2030 at a 14.3% CAGR. The company disclosures above are a useful reality check: Lumen’s PCF book alone (nearly $13 billion in multi-year contract value) is larger than a full year of the global market in these models, which suggests the research firms count annualized lease revenue, not total contract value.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global dark fiber network market, 2025 | $8.87 billion | Precedence Research, 2026 |
| Global dark fiber network market forecast, 2035 | $29.87 billion (12.91% CAGR 2026-2035) | Precedence Research, 2026 |
| US dark fiber network market | $1.99B (2025) to $6.97B (2035), 13.35% CAGR | Precedence Research, 2026 |
| North America share of 2025 revenue | More than 32% | Precedence Research, 2026 |
| Global dark fiber market increase, 2025-2030 | $12.50 billion at 15.5% CAGR | Technavio, 2026 |
| North America share of 2025-2030 growth | 38.4% | Technavio, 2026 |
| Long-haul dark fiber services value, 2024 | $4.31 billion | Technavio, 2026 |
| Dark fiber network market forecast, 2030 | $13.45 billion (14.3% CAGR 2025-2030) | Grand View Research |
Context note: these three firms segment the market differently (Precedence says metro networks lead, Technavio values long-haul separately and names multi-mode as the largest type segment, while Precedence names single-mode). Treat them as ranges, not a consensus. For the end-user side of all this capacity, see our internet speed statistics.
Summary: Dark Fiber Leasing by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Additional data center fiber miles needed by 2029 | 214 million (to 372.9 million) | FBA and RVA LLC, 2025 |
| Hyperscale route miles by 2029 | About 187,000 (from about 95,000) | FBA and RVA LLC, 2025 |
| Lumen PCF deals to date | Nearly $13 billion | Lumen, February 2026 |
| Lumen intercity fiber miles | 17M (2025), ~58M target (2031) | Lumen, February 2026 |
| Zayo North American network | 224,000 route miles, 32M fiber miles | Zayo, May 2026 |
| Uniti network | About 240,000 route miles, 11.2M strand miles | Uniti, Q4 2025 |
| Lumen network | 340,000 route miles, 163,000 on-net buildings | Lumen, FY2024 annual report |
| Uniti largest-ever contract | 20 years, $500M+, 1,100 route miles | Uniti, January 2026 |
| Zayo build target through 2030 | 15,000 route miles | Zayo, August 2026 |
| Crown Castle fiber and small cell sale | $8.5 billion | Crown Castle and Zayo, May 2026 |
| AT&T purchase of Lumen consumer fiber | $5.75 billion | AT&T, February 2026 |
| Verizon fiber passings after Frontier | Almost 30 million | Verizon, January 2026 |
| Meta and Corning fiber supply deal | Up to $6 billion | Corning, January 2026 |
| Verizon and Corning fiber supply deal | 80+ million fiber miles (2027-2032) | Verizon, September 2026 |
| Optical transport market forecast, 2026 | +16%, more than $18 billion | Dell’Oro Group, May 2026 |
| DCI optical revenue growth, Q2 2026 | 45% | Dell’Oro Group, August 2026 |
| Underground / aerial build cost | $18.00/ft / $8.00/ft | FBA and Cartesian, 2025 report |
| NTIA middle mile awards | Nearly $980M, 12,500+ miles | NTIA, 2023 |
| Global dark fiber network market, 2025 | $8.87 billion | Precedence Research |
| UK postcode sectors with cost-based dark fibre | 34% | Ofcom, March 2026 |
Methodology and Sources
Every figure was traced to the company filing, press release, regulator document or research firm that produced it. Where the original page blocked automated access, we used a named intermediary that reported the primary release and say so below. Market size figures from research firms were included only with the firm named; numbers circulating in SEO roundups without a named study were excluded.
- Fiber Broadband Association and RVA LLC, AI and data center fiber study (July 2025), read via Broadband Breakfast
- FBA Fiber Deployment Survey (December 2025), via Light Reading
- FBA and Cartesian: Fiber Deployment Cost Annual Report 2025 (January 2026)
- Dell’Oro Group: optical transport 2026 forecast (May 2026) and Q2 2026 results via TelecomTV
- Lumen: 2026 Investor Day, September 2025 network expansion update, FY2024 annual report (SEC)
- Zayo: Crown Castle Fiber Solutions closing (May 2026), acquisition announcement (March 2025), Corning supply agreement (August 2026), NVIDIA collaboration (August 2026), AI routes (July 2025), network page, April 2026 expansion via SDxCentral
- Uniti: 1,100-mile contract (January 2026), hyperscaler long-haul award, Q4 2025 results, Q1 2026 results (SEC 8-K), Q4 2025 slides via Investing.com
- Crown Castle sale closing via Wireless Estimator
- AT&T and Lumen closing via The Desk; Verizon and Frontier approvals and closing date
- Corning: Meta agreement (January 2026), AT&T agreement (September 2026); Verizon and Corning agreement; Lumen’s Corning capacity reservation via RCR Wireless
- NTIA: Middle Mile program highlights and program page
- Ofcom Telecoms Access Review 2026-31 statement (17 March 2026), via Norton Rose Fulbright
- Market research: Precedence Research, Technavio, Grand View Research press release
- Data watch: The FBA, Ofcom, Grand View Research and Fierce Network pages returned 403 errors to automated access, so FBA, Ofcom and Grand View figures were read through the named intermediaries or search summaries of the primary release; the Grand View figure ($13.45 billion by 2030) could not be opened directly and should be treated as indicative. Zayo’s network page (240,000+ route miles, 34 million fiber miles worldwide) and its 2026 press releases (224,000 route miles, 32 million fiber miles in North America) use different scopes. Zayo’s April 2026 program describes 3,000 new and 5,000+ overbuild route miles, while its August 2026 releases describe more than 8,000 miles of new long-haul fiber within a 15,000 route-mile plan. Route mile totals across Zayo, Uniti and Lumen are not comparable one to one, since they mix long-haul, metro and access fiber and some routes are leased from each other. Uniti’s segment reporting changed after the Windstream combination, so we avoided comparing Fiber Infrastructure revenue across quarters. Lumen’s 340,000 route miles and 163,000 on-net buildings come from its FY2024 annual report and predate the sale of its consumer fiber business. The NTIA middle mile awards date from 2023 (most recent available program totals). Market size estimates from Precedence, Technavio and Grand View disagree on scale and segment leadership and should be read as ranges.
Last updated: October 3, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next refresh is expected when Lumen, Uniti and Zayo report Q3 2026 results, Dell’Oro publishes its Q3 2026 optical transport report and the FBA releases its 2026 Fiber Deployment Survey.