According to relevant survey data, the fiber optic connection rate for large and medium-sized commercial buildings in the United States reached 54.8% in 2017. Market research firm Vertical Systems Group stated that this is the first time the fiber optic gap in the U.S. has decreased to 45.2%.

This figure quantifies the range of buildings in the U.S. with 20 or more employees that have achieved fiber optic connectivity. The aforementioned commercial building base covers over 2 million independent commercial entities and directly reflects the addressable markets for high-speed operator Ethernet, cloud services, data centers, hybrid VPNs, and emerging SDN services. At this time last year, the proportion of commercial buildings in the U.S. with fiber optic connectivity was 49.6%.

Here, fiber-connected buildings are defined as commercial sites or data centers connected to the network provider's infrastructure via fiber optics and current service terminal equipment. However, this does not include independent mobile signal towers, small base stations not located within fiber-connected buildings, near-networked building sites, HFC-connected buildings, operator central offices, residential buildings, and private or dark fiber installations, among others.

Rosemary Cochran, principal of Vertical Systems Group, said: "In 2017, more fiber connections were added to commercial buildings in the US than in any other year since we launched this study in 2004. Every building size segment saw an increase in the number of new fiber connected buildings, with mid-size buildings seeing the most significant growth. "Fiber deployment will continue to accelerate, as fiber is both a strategic asset to deliver wireline business services and a necessary condition for 5G."