If you’re still thinking of fiber as the “nice-to-have” cousin of broadband, Brightspeed just pulled up with a $575 million reality check, and they didn’t come to play.
Born in 2022, Brightspeed didn’t just enter the telecom scene, they stepped in like they owned the stage. Backed by Apollo Global Management and forged out of Lumen’s legacy ILEC assets, this isn’t some warmed-over copper rebrand. It’s a full-blown fiber renaissance across 20 states, rural, suburban, and everywhere the majors skipped because it didn’t look flashy on the deck. Guess who’s making those markets matter now?
Let’s talk numbers before the applause: over 2 million premises passed with fiber as of April 2025. Another million to go before the year’s out. And yes, they’re gunning for over 5 million total. Fastest ISP in the game according to HighSpeedInternet.com, clocking a 290 Mbps average download. That’s not a stat, that’s a statement.
This latest $575 million capital offering? It’s not about keeping the lights on. It’s jet fuel. Brightspeed’s expanding its reach faster than a TikTok trend and building infrastructure with surgical precision, powered by 103,000 miles of fiber, Wi-Fi 6, XGS-PON tech, and the Calix Broadband Platform. Think multi-gig speeds, real-time network intelligence, and the kind of reliability rural America was told they’d never have. Well, now they do.
You can thank some telecom OGs for that. Tom Maguire, who took over as CEO this month, didn’t just come out of retirement, he came out swinging. A 37-year Verizon vet and Brightspeed co-founder, Maguire knows what it means to scale with grit. He’s flanked by Executive Chairman Bob Mudge, the former Verizon EVP who ran point when Brightspeed first hit the streets. Add co-founder and advisor Chris Creager, and new COO Manny Sampedro, who knows how to build networks like others build excuses, and you’ve got a leadership team that reads like a hall of fame.
And just in case anyone thought this was an Apollo-only affair, remember Mubadala? Yeah, the $500 million nod from Abu Dhabi’s finest? That wasn’t charity. That was strategy.
Brightspeed’s not chasing markets, it’s building them. No overpriced urban battles. No sugar-rush subscriber plays. Just smart, fast, scalable connectivity where it counts, and where it’s been ignored for too long.
This is what it looks like when infrastructure gets personal. When fiber isn’t just cable, it’s commitment.
And this latest round? It’s not the end of the road. It’s just Brightspeed hitting the gas.
