On the Offensive: How Optimum Is Investing in Fiber, HFC, and Smarter Network Operations

Connectivity today is as essential as oxygen-you don't think about it until it's not there, but everything depends on it. Our customers rely on fast, reliable connections to power their work, education, entertainment, and daily lives. This responsibility drives every investment and decision we make.

Over the past several years, Optimum has been on a significant transformation journey focused on strengthening our network and expanding our reach to deliver enhanced connectivity to more customers. At the heart of that effort is a clear goal: deliver a robust and reliable network that not only meets today's connectivity demands but is also built for the future.

We've made meaningful progress when it comes to our dedicated network. In 2025, we invested $143M in Optimum's network, with upgrades and improvements reaching 50% of Optimum's customer base. Optimum's Fiber Internet network now reaches more than 3.1 million passings, bringing next-generation speeds and reliability to communities across our service area. What makes our network uniquely powerful is the combination of expanded fiber coverage alongside an extensive hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) infrastructure in our western markets. We focused a substantial capital investment on our HFC network to not only bring faster speeds but make necessary upgrades where we may have fallen short in the past. We knew our HFC network needed work, and we're proud of the progress we've made. Together, these technologies deliver strong, scalable performance across the country.

In addition to expanding fiber service in communities across our footprint, like New Jersey and Texas, we're unlocking more gig speeds in even more places, as seen inWest Virginia. Today, more than 96% of our footprint has access to 1 gig speeds across our fiber and HFC network, and we hold the distinction of being the nation's largest 8 gig availability internet provider. Our plan to continue to increase the availability of multi-gig speeds will bring some of the fastest speeds to many of the communities we serve. These are not just milestones - they are proof of our commitment to leading in network performance.

That commitment has also been recognized by third-party sources. Optimum Fiber has once again been ranked by Ookla^® Speedtest^® for delivering the fastest and most reliable internet speeds in New York and New Jersey, along with the lowest latency and best gaming performance across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Additionally, Optimum outperformed all major 5G Home Internet carriers in speed, reliability, and consistency, further cementing Optimum's network superiority over fixed wireless providers. Several of our HFC markets also received top accolades. These honors reinforce our focus: delivering a consistently excellent experience for customers is our top priority.

By completing extensive critical updates to our infrastructure, we've already seen a 50% decrease in network outages year-over-year, and network stability has performed exceptionally well in the wake of several recent winter storms. In fact, after Winter Storm Fern affected 70% of Optimum's footprint this January, only 2.2% of customers were impacted at the peak-a clear sign that our continued investments and proactive planning are paying off. When network disruptions have occurred over the past 6 months, nearly 75% have been outside Optimum's control-mainly due to weather, third party-cuts and other unplanned events.

Knowing that reliable, affordable and fast internet connectivity is a "must-have" today, a new wireless home connectivity option has been marketed heavily to consumers as an easy and inexpensive solution called Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)-commonly referred to as '5G Home Internet'. FWA receives 5G wireless signals through the air from a nearby cell tower, similar to a walkie-talkie, which can cause major internet speed reliability, consistency, and bandwidth issues for FWA consumers. At Optimum, we ensure our customers are covered with a dedicated internet connection available at an affordable price.

Alongside resilient infrastructure, prioritizing innovation and automation is critical to delivering best-in-class connectivity. We use AI and automated technologies to enhance our systems and platforms and revolutionize how we operate our network. For example, our Access Network Automation (ANA) tool provides deep visibility into network health, helping our field teams proactively pinpoint and resolve potential network impacts and service interruptions with greater precision.

And because our network is mission-critical, we continue to safeguard our technology to stay one step ahead of emerging cyberthreats and digital risks. This includes strengthening Optimum's cloud data and introducing new safety solutions-like Optimum Business Secure Fiber Internet and Secure Internet Plus -to protect the customers and communities we serve, with more to come this year.

Strong network performance and innovative technology depend on teams working seamlessly across the organization. From frontline and customer-facing teams to engineering, product, operations, and support functions, our stability is driven by how effectively our ONE Optimum team works together every day.

We take our responsibility to deliver safe, reliable connectivity seriously-and we will continue to raise the bar to deliver best-in-class service for our customers.

Co-authored:

Nate Edwards, Chief Operating Officer

Luciano Ramos, Chief Product & Technology Officer

Based on analysis by Ookla^® of Speedtest Intelligence^® data for fixed median download speeds, consistency score, game score, and multi-server latency, identified geographies, Q3-Q4 2025. Ookla trademarks used under license and reprinted with permission.