Connect Holding II LLC

Connect Holding II LLC Brightspeed Division, operating as Brightspeed, provides local voice and data circuits, fiber optic cable services, and emergency services infrastructure to military installations and federal civilian agencies as a prime contractor on firm-fixed-price purchase orders and definitive contracts, with no small business set-aside designations across its federal work. Brightspeed is a for-profit limited liability company headquartered in Purchase, New York, and competes in the full-and-open market under NAICS 517111 (Wired Telecommunications Carriers) as a facilities-based incumbent local exchange carrier certified in multiple states.

Brightspeed's prime contract portfolio spans military telecommunications infrastructure. Recent representative awards include a $983.7 thousand firm-fixed-price purchase order from Army Cyber Command issued August 1, 2025, for local voice and data circuits supporting Fort Novosel, Alabama, covering 10,000 direct-inward-dial numbers, commercial subscriber lines, ISDN Primary Rate Interface circuits, and point-to-point data circuits through July 31, 2030; a $529.7 thousand definitive contract from Army Cyber Command awarded August 1, 2024, for local exchange services and voice-and-data circuits at Fort Cavazos and Fort Hood, Texas, covering more than 37,000 direct-inward-dial numbers, 42 commercial subscriber lines, 15 ISDN PRI trunks, and 10 data circuits through August 31, 2029; and a $373.5 thousand purchase order from Army Intelligence and Security Command issued September 1, 2025, for local voice and data circuits supporting the National Ground Intelligence Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, including 2,800 direct-inward-dial directory numbers, 20 commercial subscriber lines, 2 ISDN BRI lines, and multiple ISDN Primary Rate Interface trunks through August 31, 2030. Smaller awards include a $301.1 thousand purchase order from Defense Health Agency for fiber optic cable service at Naval Hospital Beaufort, South Carolina (through October 31, 2030), a $262.3 thousand definitive contract from Army Cyber Command for local exchange services at Letterkenny Army Depot, Pennsylvania (through July 31, 2029), and a $180.6 thousand purchase order from the Department of the Army for 911 selective routing design services at Fort Liberty, North Carolina (through June 14, 2030). Brightspeed also holds a small number of civilian federal awards, including a $73.7 thousand purchase order from the General Services Administration on behalf of the Office of Personnel Management for Plain Old Telephone Service lines at two OPM facilities in Pennsylvania, awarded December 1, 2025.

Customer concentration in Brightspeed's prime contract footprint splits between defense and civilian agencies. The Department of the Army Cyber Command dominates the potential-value ranking with 6 awards valued at $1.9 million combined, followed by the Defense Health Agency (2 awards, $422 thousand) and the Army Intelligence and Security Command (1 award, $373 thousand). By award count, the Army Cyber Command also leads with 6 contracts, followed by the Department of the Army (2 awards, $258 thousand), Defense Health Agency (2 awards), and Office of Personnel Management (1 award). Across all customer agencies, Brightspeed serves nine distinct federal entities, with 97% of awards concentrated in the top five.

Brightspeed operates a substantial federal grant subrecipient footprint under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD), administered through state grantees including the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Missouri Department of Economic Development, North Carolina Governor's Office, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Louisiana Division of Administration, Ohio Executive Office, Alabama Department of Finance, Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, and Indiana State Office. As a sub-recipient, Brightspeed delivers fiber-to-the-premises broadband infrastructure using XGSPON technology and point-to-point fiber construction. Representative awards include a $245.5 million project cost (with $116 million in BEAD grant funds) to construct forty-six fiber optic projects serving 55,291 locations across 33 Missouri counties through March 31, 2029; multiple Wisconsin BEAD projects across regional groupings (Clark/Taylor Fiber, Ho-Chunk, Columbia/Dane/Sauk/Dodge, Winnebago, La Crosse/Trempealeau, Vilas/Iron, Green Lake, Burnett/Washburn, Clark/Chippewa, Waushara, Iowa/Grant/Lafayette, Jackson/Monroe, Florence/Marinette/Oconto, Douglas, Brown/Door/Kewaunee/Marinette, Barron/Polk/St. Croix, and unaffiliated Community Anchor Institution projects) awarded April 6, 2026; Pennsylvania fiber-to-the-premises deployments under the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development with XGSPON equipment and FTTP service capacity (nine awards, July 31, 2026); North Carolina county-by-county broadband infrastructure projects spanning Martin, Northampton, Franklin, Cumberland, Burke, Harnett, Warren, Edgecombe, Pasquotank, Beaufort, Pitt, Jones, Chatham, Pamlico, Yadkin, Warren, Currituck, Catawba, Montgomery, Bertie, Granville, Alamance, Johnston, Washington, Caldwell, Tyrell, Caswell, Carteret, Greene, Vance, Wilson, Onslow, Edgecombe, Nash, Pasquotank, Pamlico, Cumberland, Dare, Jones, Hyde, and Wake Counties (ranging from March 31, 2025, to June 28, 2024); New Jersey BEAD awards for Warren County (1,483 locations) and Sussex County (1,715 locations) serving 200 Mbps symmetrical minimum speeds at $59 monthly with Lifeline subsidy participation (August 2025); Alabama BEAD projects in Baldwin County (211 locations), Mobile County (321 locations), Pickens County (266 locations), and St. Clair County (213 locations) using XGSPON technology to deliver speeds of 100 to 2,000 Mbps symmetrical; Indiana broadband infrastructure serving 3,274 passings across Pulaski, Jay, Wells, Marshall, St. Joseph, Starke, Carroll, Clinton, Daviess, and Martin Counties ($5.6 million grant with $8.7 million local match, $14.3 million total project cost); Louisiana BEAD awards (January 6, 2026); Arkansas BEAD broadband construction and deployment (April 7, 2026); Ohio gap-funding for high-speed internet addressing cost barriers to last-mile connections (June 24, 2024, and October 16, 2024); Tennessee broadband last-mile grant funding (February 24, 2025); and Michigan Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund awards for broadband infrastructure enabling remote work, education, and health monitoring (three awards, April 1, 2024).

Activity has accelerated significantly — 25 awards in 2024, 47 in 2025, and 54 through August 2026 — driven largely by BEAD sub-award volume. The combined obligated dollars across all awards ($505.4 million) substantially exceed the combined potential value listed in the portfolio snapshot ($3.3 million), indicating that most recent awards are sub-award grants where the full federal funding flowed directly to state grantees and Brightspeed's role as a sub-recipient deployment partner rather than prime. Brightspeed holds 11% prime awards and 89% sub-awards in the current footprint. The distribution shows Brightspeed as a critical infrastructure provider in the BEAD ecosystem, scaling fiber deployments across multiple states, while maintaining a focused military telecommunications customer base for its prime contract work.