Spectrum Enterprise, the business services arm of Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR), announced that in 2018, it will invest more than $1 billion in new fiber infrastructure to increase the density of its national fiber network and to deploy new tools, training and resources. This year will be the second consecutive year in which Charter has invested in excess of $1 billion exclusively in Spectrum Enterprise.
The investment will primarily fund increased client access to the existing Spectrum Enterprise national fiber network, adding to the network's nearly 200,000 fiber-lit buildings. The majority of the new fiber will be constructed within the existing Spectrum Enterprise national footprint. Spectrum Enterprise will absorb the upfront costs of fiber construction for the majority of new enterprise clients within its footprint in order to provide more businesses with access to fiber-based solutions such as Internet access, Ethernet and voice trunks (SIP/PRI).
"As fiber connectivity has become fundamental to economic growth, we are focused on making our fiber infrastructure more accessible to clients, and reshaping their experience to align with the evolving realities of today's modern enterprise," said Phil Meeks, executive vice president and president, Spectrum Enterprise. "Advanced video and virtual reality solutions, cloud, IoT and the future of 5G all depend on a reliable and highly dense fiber network. Our commitment is to ensure that our clients have the most robust fiber network and solutions to grow today and take advantage of future technologies that have immense demands on bandwidth."