M&A activity snapshot
Fiber construction demand hit a record in 2025: 11.8 million U.S. homes passed in 2025 alone, per Fiber Broadband Association data. Carrier programs keep that pipeline full. AT&T expects to reach approximately 60 million total fiber locations by the end of 2030, roughly doubling its footprint, and agreed to buy Lumen's mass-markets fiber business for $5.75 billion.
The category leader's backlog shows the same trend. Dycom reported total backlog of $12.242 billion, an increase of 53.2%, citing long-haul and middle-mile fiber builds. Houlihan Lokey notes that hyperscalers are driving unprecedented long-haul and middle-mile construction to link new data center hubs.
Deal activity runs at two levels. Dycom completed its largest ever wireless services acquisition, Black & Veatch's public carrier wireless business, for $150 million. Below that, PE platforms are adding regional outside-plant (OSP), underground and splicing crews at undisclosed prices.
Who is buying
Public specialty contractors. Dycom buys both large carve-outs and small regional crews; its 10-K records a $24.5 million purchase of a Northwest telecommunications construction contractor alongside the Black & Veatch unit. MasTec's communications segment grew revenue 32.3% to $3,339.1 million in 2025.
PE-backed fiber platforms. GridSource, a Hastings Equity Partners portfolio company, acquired B. Robinson, a Texas-based fiber optic construction provider, taking the combined company to over 1,000 employees across 39 locations. Broadtree Partners' Triage Partners acquired Benton Technical Services and J. Carlson Services, two FTTH and OSP construction and splicing firms.
Engineering firms selling field units. The Black & Veatch deal shows the reverse flow: engineering companies selling construction crews to specialists. That creates carve-out opportunities that also attract PE buyers.
What buyers look for
MSA position. Telecom construction runs on master service agreements. Multi-year MSAs were 86.6% of Dycom's fiscal 2026 revenue, and 44% of MasTec's 2025 consolidated revenue came from master service and other service agreements. A target that holds MSAs directly with carriers is worth more than one that only subcontracts to a prime.
Customer mix. Concentration is normal, but buyers price it. AT&T was 25.4% of Dycom's fiscal 2026 revenue, Verizon 14.0% and Lumen 10.8%. For a small contractor, the questions are tenure with each carrier, rate-card history, and exposure to any one program ending.
Crew capability. Buyers want splicing, underground boring and aerial crews with their own equipment. BLS counts 103,400 telecommunications line installers and repairers with a median wage of $74,330, and projects overall telecom technician employment to decline 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, so skilled crews are hard to add.
Make-ready and permitting speed. Backlog only converts when poles are ready. FCC rules set make-ready completion in the communications space at no later than 30 days after notification, or up to 75 days for mid-sized orders and 120 days for large orders. Contractors that work those timelines well bill faster.
What makes a strong company
The fiber and wireless contractors that draw strong interest typically show:
- Direct MSAs with at least two carriers or cable operators, with renewal history.
- A balance of FTTH, middle-mile and maintenance work rather than one program.
- Owned directional drills, aerial trucks and splicing trailers with maintenance logs.
- A clear safety program covering both construction work (OSHA Part 1926) and installation and maintenance under 1910.268, which by its own terms does not apply to construction.
- Backlog that is documented by work order, not estimated from last year's run rate.
- Few disputes over unit-price closeouts and change orders.
Valuation and deal structure
No GF Data, Capstone Partners or other public series reports a lower-middle-market EBITDA multiple for fiber or wireless contractors, and the PE add-ons above did not disclose prices. Available reference points:
- Public leader. Dycom traded at 15.3x EV/2025E EBITDA as of December 31, 2025. Public multiples carry a scale and liquidity premium that a regional private contractor does not.
- Disclosed carve-out. Dycom paid $150 million for the Black & Veatch wireless business. It expected $250 million to $275 million of contract revenues in fiscal 2026 from it, about 0.55x-0.60x expected revenue by Axia's arithmetic. No EBITDA was disclosed.
- Margin reference. Dycom's adjusted EBITDA margin was 13.3% in fiscal 2026, and MasTec's communications segment margin was 9.3% in 2025. Buyers compare a target's margin against those figures.
Because MSAs can usually be terminated for convenience, buyers often tie part of the price to post-close revenue from key carriers, or ask the owner to roll equity into the platform. Owners can test a range with the valuation tool; Axia does not value businesses or represent sellers.
Outlook
Fiber demand from carriers and hyperscalers should keep crews busy for the next 12-24 months. BEAD adds less than its headline: the program is $42.45 billion, but the June 2025 restructuring ended the fiber-only priority, and NTIA estimates savings of $21 billion, approximately half of the total funding. With all 56 final proposals approved, subgrantee construction should ramp through 2027.
Expect PE platforms to keep buying regional OSP and splicing contractors to gain crews in BEAD and carrier markets. Public strategics are shifting part of their capital toward data center electrical and low-voltage work, which may leave more small fiber targets for sponsors.
See the parent Energy & Infrastructure Services M&A overview and the sister page on electrical and utility contracting. For how buyers build target lists in a vertical like this, read how to build an M&A target list.