The Smarter Fiber M&A Model Investors Are Turning To

As fiber broadband consolidation accelerates across North America, investors and Tier-1 operators face a paradox: while acquisitions promise scale and operational leverage, traditional integration playbooks often delay returns and unintentionally erode the very revenue they set out to grow. The prevailing strategy — merge brands, unify systems, consolidate staff — may look efficient on paper, but in practice it frequently triggers churn, stalls time-to-market, and inflates integration costs.

The ISP Consolidation Success whitepaper highlights a more effective approach: optimize operations while preserving the revenue-generating engines — the local brands, customer relationships, and market trust that smaller ISPs have spent decades building.

Download the whitepaper on ISP Consolidation

Welcome back to another day of the COS Systems Christmas Calendar! Today, we’re revealing one of our most requested resources of the year: a COS FSM One-Pager — your concise guide to modernizing, scaling, and simplifying field service operations for fiber networks.

Whether you’re managing installs, service activations, maintenance, troubleshooting, or coordinating subcontractors, COS FSM gives you the automation and intelligence needed to do more with less — while improving customer experience.

🎁 Download the COS FSM One-Pager here!

2026: Fiber’s Next Chapter — Smarter, Shared, and Stronger 

As we wrap up another fast-moving year in telecom, one thing is clear: the U.S. fiber market is shifting. After years of aggressive construction, investors flooding in, and networks racing to pass as many homes as possible, the industry is now entering a new phase — one defined not by speed, but by strategy.

Mikael and Ashley break down the key trends shaping 2026 in this video⬇️

As Open Access and wholesale fiber models take off, many operators are hitting the same wall: their legacy BSS/OSS stacks weren’t built for multi-ISP, multi-vendor, or M&A-heavy environments.

You may be:

• Running a wholesale/Open Access network with several ISPs
• Managing multiple brands under one umbrella
• Acquiring networks that each come with their own tech stack

In all these cases, you need a neutral orchestration layer that unifies operations, automation, and visibility across the entire ecosystem.
That’s why we built COS Wholesale Engine!

Behind Today’s Door: A Fresh New Look at Business Engine 

As we continue our Advent Calendar journey, today’s reveal shines a spotlight on something many of you use every single day — the Business Engine interface. Over the past year, our team has delivered a series of thoughtful UI improvements designed to make your daily work smoother, faster, and more intuitive.

ISPs Make Open Access Magical

This season, we’re shining the spotlight on the amazing providers selling their services across our customers’ open access networks — bringing choice, speed, and stellar support to communities far and wide (from KPUD, LCPUD, City of Superior, and more).

Kitsap Public Utility District (KPUD) is lighting up more of Kitsap County, Washington (pop. ~280,000) with a community-owned, open-access fiber network—designed for choice and built for scale.

What’s new: With $6.6M in funding and resident payments, KPUD is adding 21 distribution nodes slated to be completed by early 2026, boosting capacity and lowering per-home connection costs. The open-access wholesale model lets multiple ISPs deliver service over the same network, increasing competition and affordability for residents and businesses.

However you say it, it’s still us—one team stretching from Umeå to the USA.

Over the years, customers, friends, and partners have laughed, and sometimes been delightfully confused,  by the many ways we pronounce “COS,” sometimes in the very same meeting. That’s part of the fun and part of who we are.

Hi fiber friends,

Today’s door opens to something special: a live, no-fluff webinar with our friends at VETRO on how integrated workflows turn plans into paying customers—faster.

Webinar: From Planning to Monetization — How Integrated Workflows Accelerate Broadband Success

Automated tax calculation with Avalara in COS Business Engine

If you’re doing end-user billing in COS Business Engine, taxes don’t have to be scary. Our new Avalara integration automatically calculates the correct taxes and fees on subscriber invoices based on the service location and the applicable tax rules. Avalara keeps jurisdictional rates up to date and handles returns and remittances, helping you stay compliant with less manual work.