Searchlight Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and Simple Broadband, an investment vehicle backed by Simple Networks and Armavir Partners, today announced an initial investment into All Points Broadband (APB), a hybrid fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and wireless internet service provider (WISP).
Searchlight Capital and Simple Broadband’s equity will support All Points’ growth as an internet service provider (ISP). Specifically, the company will expand its fiber broadband services in unserved areas of Virginia, Kentucky, and the mid-Atlantic region.
Prior to Searchlight Capital and Simple Broadband’s investment, All Points Broadband was owned by hedge fund Akre Capital Management. Finally, the transaction will close in Q3 2021.
All Points Broadband – Overview
All Points Broadband is a Virginia-based internet service provider (ISP), which began offering fixed broadband services in 2014. Currently, the company serves ~9.0k subscribers, being homes and businesses, in communities throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky. The vast majority of All Points’ subscribers are residential and reside in rural and suburban areas.
All Points’ services include a combination of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and fixed wireless networks. To deliver residential service, the company typically leases middle-mile fiber between its primary data centers and key distribution points on its network. These distribution points include fiber nodes and telecommunications towers, from where the company delivers its last-mile connectivity.
Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH)
All Points partners with public-private initiatives, electric cooperatives, and other utilities to deploy last-mile fiber, offering speeds of 1 gigabit per second. For example, the company is partnering with Dominion Energy and Northern Neck Electric Cooperative. With Dominion Energy, All Points is leveraging Dominion’s middle-mile fiber infrastructure to reduce the cost of extending broadband to unserved locations.
Notably, All Points’ fiber network has 10 gigabit per second rings which connect to major carrier hotels located in Chicago and Ashburn.
Fixed Wireless Networks
All Points is also a wireless internet service provider (WISP) that delivers broadband service using both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. Specifically, the company provides connectivity with the 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 3.65 GHz (CBRS), and 5 GHz frequency bands.
Prior Funding
Prior to Searchlight, All Points Broadband notes that since October 2020, the company has secured $51m+ in state and federal grants, and stakeholder partner contributions, to deploy broadband networks.
Searchlight Capital and Simple – Expansion
Under Searchlight Capital and Simple Broadband’s ownership, All Points will focus on expanding its rural fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) platform. Indeed, this includes expansion in both the company’s existing markets of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky and new markets.
Overall, All Points is positioned to provide “hundreds of thousands” of underserved homes and businesses with quality, high-speed broadband.
