Telecom and utilities news and perspectives

• Fiber network management
• GIS
• Communications service providers

Putting broadband customer experience in the fast lane

Today’s broadband customers expect more than just a fast, reliable connection. They expect flawless service experiences.

For operators, that makes customer experience (CX) the ultimate differentiator. Price and speed still matter, but loyalty is increasingly won, or lost, based on how smoothly you manage your network, how quickly you respond to problems, and how confidently customers feel you’ve got them covered.

• Fiber network construction
• Fiber network industry and markets
• Broadband funding
• 3-GIS telecom solutions

Telecom industry pulse: January 2026 recap

Network news roundup

January reinforced a trend the industry has been circling for months. Fiber investment is still moving forward, but it is being shaped less by federal optimism and more by private capital, workforce realities, and regulatory tradeoffs. Local expansions continued city by city, global operators posted strong financial signals, and policymakers wrestled with how broadband, AI, and labor intersect in practice—not theory.

• 3-GIS utilities solutions
• GIS
• App modernization

How utilities are getting more out of the Esri Utility Network

Editor’s note: Originally published by SSP Innovations under SSP Productivity. Updated by the 3-GIS Team with the current product name, 3-GIS | Productivity, and other revisions.

The way utilities manage data today reflects more than a century of innovation shaped by the pursuit of customer service and safety. From handwritten notes on paper maps to advanced tools that calculate restoration times during outages, the methods have changed but the goals remain the same.

• Fiber network management
• Fiber network industry and markets
• Telecom technologies

How the telecom skills gap is reshaping operations

Telecom networks are expanding faster than ever. Today, fiber is available to more than half of U.S. households, a share that continues to grow as public and private investment ramps up.¹ Fiber is pushing deeper into communities, funding programs are compressing build timelines, and expectations for reliability keep rising. 

At the same time, the people who know how these networks actually work, and more importantly how to keep them running, are becoming harder to find.

• Fiber network industry and markets
• Telecom technologies
• Press

Telecom industry pulse: December 2025 recap

Network news roundup

December closed the year with a familiar mix of momentum and friction. Operators kept pushing fiber deeper into markets; states worked to clear long-standing permitting bottlenecks, and AI-driven demand continued to shape backbone decisions. At the same time, uncertainty around the U.S. Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program crept back in, and big carriers made it clear that internal restructuring is far from over.

• Telecom technologies
• 3-GIS utilities solutions

Lighting the way for 5G joint use

Editor’s note: Originally published by SSP Innovations under SSP SPANS. Updated by the 3-GIS Team with the current product name, 3-GIS | SPANS, and other revisions.   

5G is here. One after another, carriers are announcing go-live dates for new 5G networks, racing to meet the demand for faster speeds. For the average user, the goal is simply more bars on their phone. But behind the scenes, the implementation of 5G is complex and creates unique challenges for providers. 

• 3-GIS utilities solutions
• GIS

How utilities are making their field tools easier to use and manage

Editor’s note: Originally published by SSP Innovations under SSP MIMS. Updated by the 3-GIS Team with the current product name, 3-GIS | MIMS, and other revisions.

Mobile technology continues to evolve, and in the utility industry, mobile solutions are now everywhere. Many utilities run multiple applications from different vendors, often without a cohesive strategy for managing them. Some are essential, others overlap, and a few may even duplicate functions. So how do you get control of your mobile environment and make sure it supports your goals? The answer is to develop an enterprise mobile strategy. 

• Fiber network industry and markets
• Telecom technologies
• Press

Telecom industry pulse: November 2025 recap

Network news roundup

From workforce pressures to new federal rules, inland long-haul routes, and aggressive fiber builds tied to AI, November’s headlines showed the same core trend: the market is moving ahead, but the economics and staffing behind those builds are getting harder to ignore.