- Tillman tapped former Verizon tech chief Ed Chan as its new CEO
- The open access operator has $1B in private capital for fiber expansion
- Omdia predicts open access will account for ‘tens of millions’ of fiber passings in the coming years
Open access fiber operator Tillman is cranking up its deployment in the U.S., with new CEO Ed Chan at the helm.
Chan, who notably worked at Verizon for three decades, will lead Tillman’s fiber-to-the-home expansion across Florida and other parts of the U.S. The move comes after Tillman last year snagged $1 billion in additional private capital to support its buildout in the state. Apart from Florida, Tillman is planning to build out fiber locations in Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Nevada.
Chan took on several executive roles during his Verizon stint, including serving as CTO and chief of network engineering. He was also responsible for the “strategic technology evolution and planning” for Verizon’s wireless and wireline networks along with IT infrastructure, according to LinkedIn. Prior to joining Tillman, Chan was chief information officer at Crown Castle, which in March sold off its fiber business to Zayo for $4.25 billion.
“Ed’s combination of deep technical expertise and industry leadership makes him well-suited to lead Tillman Fiber as we accelerate our network rollout,” said Tillman Fiber Chairman Sanjiv Ahuja in a statement.
Recon Analytics Principal Roger Entner similarly noted Chan is a “highly respected and capable telecom executive” and will likely mesh well with Tillman’s leadership, given “executives from all providers know each other from industry associations.”
You may recall T-Mobile is Tillman's first retail partner, as the carrier pursues its own fiber ambitions. T-Mobile recently expanded its fiber availability to more than 500,000 U.S. households in 10 states, which includes Florida’s Suncoast region.
Open access market moves
Tillman is one of several players in the growing U.S. open access network space, alongside companies like Utopia, AT&T’s Gigapower, Intrepid Fiber, Si-Fi Networks and more.
Companies like AT&T and T-Mobile “are looking for capital-light ways to increase their FTTP coverage whereby financing of the fiber deployment is kept off their balance sheets and is shared with other parties,” said Omdia in a recent report.
Omdia predicts open access networks will account for “tens of millions” of U.S. fiber passings in the coming years, as the model provides operators more financial flexibility in deploying fiber.