CommScope cancels $60 million expansion plan in North Carolina, then loses $2 million state grant

Vistance Networks, formerly CommScope, said so long to its old name as well as plans to expand its fiber manufacturing plant in Catawba (NC). The company cancelled a $60 million plan that intended to create 250 jobs due to financial uncertainties. Vistance informed the state in December that it would not achieve its local hiring or investment goals, and the North Carolina Economic Investment Committee terminated the company's nearly $2 million economic development grant. Dell'Oro Group Vice President Jeff Heynen said the decision could be partially due to the delays in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. After a year of uncertainty and restructuring, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has approved most of the state BEAD plans, and the broadband industry's hopeful construction can finally kick off in 2026. But access vendors probably won't get much revenue from BEAD until 2027. "The fiber opportunity for BEAD has certainly been reduced after the latest rounds, and that might have resulted in CommScope not needing to construct a new facility due to reduced demand for BABA-compliant fiber," Heynen said.