Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Year of Transformation

As we close out 2025, I find myself reflecting on what has been one of the most pivotal years in my career, and arguably one of the most transformative for the field service and broadband infrastructure industries.

The Year AI Became Infrastructure

When 2025 began, everyone was talking about artificial intelligence. By year's end, we stopped talking about it and started relying on it. AI moved from flashy experimentation to embedded tools that quietly improve everyday work: schedule optimization, guided troubleshooting, and intelligent parts recommendations.

The best AI doesn't announce itself; it simply makes everything work better. Field technicians aren't thinking about machine learning when they receive optimized routes. They're just getting their jobs done more efficiently, with less friction and more confidence.

Fiber's Defining Moment

In 2024, the industry set another deployment record, passing 10.3 million homes and reaching 76.5 million homes nationwide.¹ The numbers for 2025 aren't in yet, but significant news came from RVA's latest research: optical fiber is projected to become the leading internet delivery method to American homes by 2030, overtaking cable's position held since 2011.²

This isn't just about deployment numbers. It's about consumer preferences driving market reality. RVA's consumer research shows that 65% of consumers now prefer fiber when given a choice, versus just 18% for coax. The market has spoken, and the industry is responding with a projected $167 billion in fiber capex through 2029².

What's particularly striking is the diversification of providers. Fiber deployment now comes from telecom companies, cable MSOs, competitive providers, municipalities, and rural electric cooperatives. The days of telecom dominance are shifting. Tier-1 telephone companies' share of FTTH homes passed has fallen from 93% in 2006 to a projected 43% by 2029.²

Closing the Gap

Throughout 2025, I kept coming back to one central challenge: the gap between network availability and service activation. You can build the most advanced fiber network in the world, but if you can't efficiently connect customers and coordinate field operations, you're leaving value on the table.

McKinsey's research shows that 70% of customers would pay more for faster issue resolution, and 35% would pay more for access to more talented field agents.³ Operational excellence has become a competitive differentiator. The most successful providers in 2025 weren't just those with the fastest networks. They were the ones who delivered seamless end-to-end customer experiences.

A New Chapter

Which brings me to the most exciting development of my year: AEX's acquisition of Field Squared. When working with customers of both AEX and Field Squared (Ripple Fiber and HyperFiber), I saw an opportunity that had been building for years: uniting best-in-class broadband infrastructure automation with powerful field service management.

Field Squared has always been about helping complex field operations work smarter. AEX brings industry-leading OSS/BSS platforms. Together, we're creating a unified operating system that connects every step from network planning to customer activation to ongoing field service operations.

For our fiber and telecom customers, this means finally closing the gap between infrastructure deployment and service delivery. For customers in other industries, it means Field Squared's platform becomes even more powerful, backed by greater resources and accelerated innovation.

Looking to 2026

As I look ahead, I'm energized by what's possible. BEAD funding will continue to flow, and the foundations are in place: mature AI tools, proven platforms, robust methodologies.

But technology and funding alone won't determine who wins. Success will come to organizations that can orchestrate complexity, bringing together network planning, field operations, customer experience, and business systems into a coherent whole.

The convergence of OSS/BSS and field service management isn't just a business strategy. It's recognition that the future belongs to companies that can manage the entire service-delivery lifecycle. From the moment a fiber network is built to the moment a customer goes live to every service call that follows, every touchpoint matters.

It's been quite a year. At AEX, with Field Squared now part of our family, we have the tools, the team, and the vision to help our customers navigate these challenges and seize these opportunities.

I look forward to seeing what we accomplish next.

Christopher James Camut is President of AEX Software and former CEO of Field Squared.

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