Whether the focus is on enhancing a network foothold in additional markets, expanding an existing product line, or refocusing on serving a market segment such as fiber-based broadband, vendors and service providers actively pursued new M&A deals to meet these goals.

PwC noted in its Media and telecommunications: US Deals 2026 outlook that in the second half of 2025, M&A activity “saw a marked uptick” that was “driven by more favorable financing conditions, strategic portfolio realignments, and a rejuvenated investor appetite for premium intellectual property.”

In 2025, AT&T, Charter, and Verizon announced three large deals. AT&T reached a deal to acquire Lumen’s consumer fiber assets, while Verizon acquired Frontier, and Charter is working to complete its merger with Cox Communications.

By acquiring Lumen’s mass-market fiber business for $5.75 billion, covering about 1 million existing and 7 million planned locations, AT&T puts itself on a path to reach to reach 60M fiber locations by 2030. Likewise, Verizon’s acquisition of Frontier enables it to scale its fiber reach and create new converged service capabilities. Finally, Charter’s pending deal with Cox will create a larger provider with 69.5 million locations passed (57.2 million for Charter and 12.3 million for Cox).

In this new Broadband Pulse podcast, we talked to Daniel Hays, principal, Consulting Solutions at PwC about the telecom M&A landscape.

About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address key issues affecting the optical and broadband industries. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and click on our podcast site at www.broadbandpulse.podbean.com/.

In this podcast, we spoke with Amit Thakar, vice president of signal integrity product marketing at Semtech, about the shift from DSP-based to linear optical architectures and other issues.

About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address key issues affecting the optical and broadband industries. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and click on our podcast site at www.broadbandpulse.podbean.com/.

Since it was founded in 1998, LightRiver has made a name for itself in its ability to consult, commission, automate, and optimize multi-vendor, multi-generational and software-controlled networks. One of the company’s recent highlights is its Prism software product. Prism simplifies the complexities of multi-vendor, multi-generation networks, empowering stakeholders to streamline operations and make informed decisions for future success.

LightRiver won a 2026 Lightwave Innovation Review award for its Prism product, a customizable, user-friendly application for optimizing multi-vendor, multi-generation fiber optic networks.

One of Lightwave's Innovation Reviews judges said the platform could be beneficial in fiber-starved scenarios.”

In this latest Broadband Pulse podcast, we talked to two industry veterans about how to help service providers be proactive in managing their diverse networks:

· Jim Brinksma, senior vice president of software solutions at white Light River

· Marcelo McAndrew, VP of Software Product Management at LightRiver

Key moments in this episode

0.00 Opening

0:03 Introduction of the guests

0:57 PacketLight’s multi-layer network approach How PacketLight’s Prism software platform focuses on multi-vendor, multi-generation, and multi-layer networks.

1:42 Collecting network data Prism can make the data it collects actionable, helping businesses save money, drive revenue, and reduce time to market.

2:47 Prism’s spectrum optimization feature LightRiver’s spectrum optimization helps service providers better utilize their resources today and in the future.

4:39 Prism’s spectrum capacity search This feature allows providers to visualize the optical spectrum and optimize it to maximize performance in an existing network.

5:36 Managing M&A How Prism can pull information from different APIs across network platforms and aggregate them into a single platform.

9:19 The quantum computing opportunity LightRiver sees 2026 as the year when the quantum opportunity starts to ramp.

11:18 Final Thoughts/Closing Jim Brinksma and Marcelo McAndrew share final thoughts and expectations for the OFC 2026 trade show with the Broadband Pulse.

Meet our guests

Jim Brinksma, senior vice president of software solutions at white Light River Jim Brinksma has over 20 years of software experience spanning the Department of Defense (DoD), SaaS start-ups and operators, financial services, and telecommunications. In this role, he is responsible for driving the global expansion of LightRiver’s software automation and productivity solutions portfolio. Jim’s previous roles include Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Megaport, co-founder and CTO of InnovoEdge (acquired by Megaport), VP of Strategy and Business Development at Ciena BluePlanet, VP of Sales Engineering and Customer Operations at Ciena, VP of Network Products and Strategy at Goldman Sachs, and seven years of service in the United States Navy. Jim’s doctorate is from the University of Maryland. He also completed the Strategy and Innovation Program at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, the Non-Profit Board Leadership Program at Harvard Business School, and is a National Association of Corporate Directors’ Board Leadership Fellow.

And

Marcelo McAndrew, VP of Software Product Management at LightRiver Marcelo has eight years of leading software teams to develop the next generation of products and services, spanning cybersecurity, blockchain, CDN, mobile & web applications, SaaS platforms, esports, multi-cloud, edge computing and more. Currently the VP of Product Management for Software Solutions at LightRiver, he is responsible for driving innovation, delivering next-generation products & services, developing strategic relationships with vendors, partners, research & development organizations, and achieving financial results.

About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address key issues affecting the optical and broadband industries. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com/podcasts and click on our podcast site at www.broadbandpulse.podbean.com/.