Fiber Prices Up 50% as AI Data Centers Collide With $42.45B BEAD Build

Fiber prices have climbed as much as 50 percent since the start of the year, and the buyers crowding out rural broadband builders are the largest companies in the American economy. That is the warning from CoBank, a lender to rural utilities, which reported in July that hyperscalers are expected to spend more than $700 billion on capital projects in 2026. Some suppliers have already delayed shipments or canceled orders because of data center demand.

The collision lands on the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, created by Congress in 2021 and only now breaking ground. Nathan Leamer, CEO of Fixed Gear Strategies and a former policy adviser to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, laid out the stakes in an opinion piece for Broadband Breakfast. His question is blunt: can America build AI infrastructure and rural broadband at the same time?

What changed for BEAD builders?

The supply squeeze arrived at the worst moment. In January, Meta signed a deal worth up to $6 billion for Corning fiber and cable to wire its U.S. data centers. Amazon followed in June with a multibillion-dollar Corning contract of its own, creating 1,000 manufacturing jobs in North Carolina. This month, REV Fiber broke ground near Baton Rouge on what Louisiana officials call the largest BEAD-funded project in the country.

CoBank warned that smaller rural operators may struggle to get materials at reasonable prices. That matters because BEAD grants carry tight budgets, construction deadlines and Buy America sourcing requirements. Project budgets drafted two years ago may no longer be reasonable today. Missing deadlines or requirements could expose recipients to penalties or clawbacks.

How did BEAD get here?

The program's history is one of delay. Under the Biden administration, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration spent years attaching requirements that, in Leamer's account, had little to do with putting infrastructure in the ground. States battled NTIA over rate regulation and DEI hiring preferences. Virginia's application was held up for months in a dispute over pricing requirements. Some states proposed spending more than $100,000 per location.

Meanwhile, private providers invested billions and connected communities originally expected to rely on BEAD funds. When the current administration reformed the program through its "Benefit of the Bargain" process, the map of unserved locations looked very different. The remaining locations are the hardest to reach geographically, made tougher still by competition for materials and workers.

Is there enough labor for both builds?

The numbers say no, not without policy intervention. The Fiber Broadband Association and the Power & Communication Contractors Association estimated in 2024 that planned broadband builds would need about 28,000 more construction workers and 30,000 more technicians. The Center for Strategic and International Studies projects the AI build-out will need 140,000 more skilled tradespeople by 2030, including heavy equipment operators and construction laborers.

Those lists overlap. Leamer's example: the directional drill operator on a fiber route is exactly who a data center contractor wants to hire next. Pay is competitive — the Bureau of Labor Statistics put median earnings for telecom line installers at $74,330 in May 2025, against $50,980 across all occupations.

What is Washington doing?

The administration's AI Action Plan calls for growing the supply of electricians and HVAC technicians for data centers. It does not mention fiber splicers, line crews or tower technicians. Leamer argues it should.

NTIA has recognized the need to rescope and rebid some BEAD projects. Its September notice on BEAD's newest deployment round took a first step, funded by leftover "non-deployment" dollars from the Benefit of the Bargain round. Leamer wants subsequent guidance to fund training for the people who will build and maintain the networks — the closest thing to deployment a non-deployment dollar can buy.

On September 30, a bipartisan group led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito introduced the American Affordability and Jobs Act, with a vote expected after the November 3 elections. The bill centers on energy projects and transmission, down to making data centers pay their own transmission costs. A data center with power and no fiber is a very expensive warehouse, Leamer writes; fiber routes and towers deserve the same permitting fast track.

The FCC acted in May, when rules setting timelines for large pole attachment requests and speeding contractor approvals took effect. Leamer wants utilities held to them consistently.

Left alone, AI and rural broadband will bid against each other for the same spools and the same people, and both will finish late. The outcome, he argues, depends on whether policymakers start treating the two builds as one labor and supply chain problem — before the deadlines arrive.