Ask the Expert: Getting Up to Speed on Broadband Rollouts

With broadband deployment at an all-time high, understanding the factors influencing efficiency—such as labor constraints, material costs, and installation methods—is crucial for competitive advantage and long-term network performance.
July 22, 2026

Broadband is in a historic expansion phase. Fueled by billions of dollars in public and private investment - and surging bandwidth demand from artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and other data-intensive applications - providers are racing to deploy fiber infrastructure at an unprecedented scale.

As broadband rollouts accelerate across the country, providers and contractors face a critical challenge: deploying networks quickly and efficiently while managing labor constraints, installation complexity, and rising project costs.  

In this Ask the Expert, Jesse Hudgins, director of product management at Oldcastle Infrastructure, discusses the factors affecting broadband deployment efficiency - and why deployment speed has become a key competitive advantage. The discussion touches on some of the most significant obstacles impacting broadband deployment, including the ongoing broadband labor shortage, construction bottlenecks, fiber supply concerns, and the operational realities of scaling network builds across diverse environments. 

Readers will learn how infrastructure design, material selection, and installation methods can influence both deployment timelines and long-term network performance. The conversation also explores the relationship between upfront material costs and total installed cost, providing a clearer picture of how labor, equipment utilization, and installation complexity contribute to overall project economics. 

Download now to learn more.