Cable One, Inc.

Cable One, Inc., operating as Sparklight, a for-profit broadband communications provider based in Phoenix, Arizona and wholly owned by Graham Holdings Company, delivers commercial internet, cable television, and network infrastructure services to federal agencies as a prime contractor on full-and-open purchase orders and blanket purchase agreements with no set-aside participation. The company competes in the commercial telecommunications market without claiming minority, small-business, HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, or other socioeconomic designations across its federal footprint.

Sparklight's federal capability portfolio centers on recurring telecommunications services: high-speed internet delivery, cable television installation and renewal, Wi-Fi infrastructure setup, and broadband connectivity support at federal facilities. Representative work includes a $762,531.63 purchase order from Air Education and Training Command for basewide internet services at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi (awarded September 2021, extending through September 2026 with four option years, requiring 3,000 Mbps download and upload speeds across 26 buildings); a $14,064.48 purchase order from Naval Air Warfare Center for 1-Gigabit business internet, modem leasing, and Wi-Fi service at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans (August 2023, extending through August 2026); and a $10,536.92 purchase order from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for high-speed data internet service (September 2024, expiring August 2025). The company also holds two single-award blanket purchase agreements with Air Education and Training Command valued at $24,000 each for cable television services at Columbus Air Force Base (most recent award December 2025, expiring December 2026) and commercial internet services (October 2024, expiring October 2025).

Customer concentration clusters in Department of Veterans Affairs health systems and civilian law enforcement. The Drug Enforcement Administration accounts for 57 awards (28% of total awards) with $145 thousand combined potential value, reflecting a recurring pattern of small monthly internet and cable contracts at regional offices and task force operations across Sioux City, Gulfport, Phoenix, and Fargo locations. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 (15 awards, $104 thousand), Veterans Integrated Service Network 22 (12 awards, $670 thousand), and Veterans Integrated Service Network 20 (9 awards, $76 thousand) round out the top four customer agencies, accounting for 51% of awards. However, dollar concentration diverges: Air Education and Training Command (9 awards, $1.2 million combined potential value) and Veterans Integrated Service Network 22 ($670 thousand on 12 awards) anchor 76% of combined potential value, with the Columbus Air Force Base basewide internet contract and related AETC agreements driving the highest-value segment. This split reflects Sparklight's portfolio structure — high-volume, low-value routine telecommunications renewals with DEA and veterans health systems balanced against fewer, larger infrastructure modernization contracts with the Air Force.

Sparklight operates primarily against three indefinite delivery vehicles: Indefinite Delivery Contract F2260093D0014 (5 task orders), Indefinite Delivery Contract VA25814D0026 (5 task orders, $122 thousand combined potential value) supporting Department of Veterans Affairs health system cable and internet renewals, and Indefinite Delivery Contract 36C25819D0002 (4 task orders, $183 thousand combined potential value). The company does not appear on any government-wide acquisition contracts, GSA schedules, or multi-agency IDIQs; its parent vehicle exposure is limited to single-award BPAs and agency-specific IDVs issued by AETC and the VA.

Activity shows minimal growth and significant recompete exposure. Awards per year ranged from 3 in 2022 to 9 in 2024, with only 1 award recorded in 2026 (the July FEMA Wi-Fi service order). Three awards with combined potential value of $783 thousand reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete risk across a small but material portion of the active portfolio. The company has been present in the federal marketplace since at least October 1998, indicating long-standing but flat-to-declining recent activity. Combined obligated dollars ($4.1 million) exceed combined potential value ($3.2 million), reflecting either aggressive option exercising, revised funding adjustments, or period-of-performance extensions on mature contracts.

Sparklight operates solely as a prime contractor; the source carries no subcontract work and no grant sub-awards. The company is a named subsidiary within Graham Holdings Company's portfolio, which also owns Fidelity Cablevision, Hargray Communications Group, Hargray Telephone Company, Comsouth Telenet, Comsouth Telecommunications, Valu-Net, Bluffton Telephone Company, and other regional broadband and telephone service entities, giving the parent enterprise a distributed telecommunications footprint across multiple branded operating units. From a competitive-intelligence perspective, Sparklight's federal positioning is narrow: it competes on facility-level telecommunications services against regional carriers and larger telecommunications incumbents, with limited exposure to complex IT, cloud engineering, or network modernization work. The company's strength lies in established facility relationships and recurring service renewal patterns rather than recompete growth, large-vehicle positioning, or teaming relationships.