Issue 3 · September 28, 2026

Three States

Three connectivity purchases forming right now. Not five this week - only three held up. None of them is an RFP yet. Every one is public, and every one has a date.

This week's signals were gathered between September 13 and September 27, 2026, and only entries whose dates could be confirmed at the source were kept.

THREE FORMING

Helm Bank USA, Florida

September 16, 2026 - Florida Office of Financial Regulation notified Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP), a Credicorp subsidiary, that it had granted Final Order of Approval for the acquisition of 100% of the shares and control of Helm Bank USA. Credicorp reported it in an SEC Form 6-K filed September 17.

The transaction is not complete. Credicorp says completion is still subject to "the required regulatory approvals in the United States from the Federal Reserve System" and "the fulfillment of other customary closing conditions." No closing date is given.

A state regulator's final order is one of the last public steps in a bank acquisition. Federal Reserve is what remains here.

Once it closes, a U.S. bank joins a foreign parent's operation - and the network, WAN, carrier and security integration behind that gets planned before the close, not after it.

Who should be watching: WAN and SD-WAN providers, network integrators and carriers who do bank-acquisition integration in Florida. There is no public procurement vehicle here - this is a private integration. Watch the Federal Reserve's action on the application.

Source: Credicorp, SEC Form 6-K, filed September 17, 2026: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001290/000114036126036806/ef20082136_6k.htm

Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 18 - New Mexico's Office of Broadband Access and Expansion lists a Notice of Award to the Pueblo of Zia: $100,000 under its Grant-Writing, Engineering, & Planning (GWEP) program, award GWEP-26-009.

Telecompetitor reported on September 23 that the planning grant is meant to help extend fiber to 193 unserved homes and 12 Tribal community institutions in Sandoval County, and that the Pueblo intends to install roughly 12 miles of fiber and related infrastructure.

About $81,000 will go to professional services for an aerial survey and subsurface utility engineering, supplementing a separate grant the Pueblo received through the federal Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. About $19,000 is earmarked for grant writing to pursue additional federal funds. It is the first GWEP grant the Pueblo of Zia has received.

This is the stage the series is named for. The money pays for survey and engineering, and survey and engineering come before anyone buys the construction.

$81,000 for the survey. The build comes after it.

Who should be watching: engineering, survey and grant consultants serving Tribal broadband applicants in New Mexico, and fiber construction and outside-plant contractors in north-central New Mexico for the construction that follows. Watch the Pueblo's own procurement and the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion's awards library.

Sources: New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, awards library (Pueblo of Zia, GWEP-26-009, Notice of Award, 9/18/2026): https://connect.nm.gov/awards-library.html · Telecompetitor, Ian Doescher, Sep 23, 2026: https://www.telecompetitor.com/pueblo-of-zia-awarded-first-new-mexico-broadband-planning-grant/

State of Indiana

SEPTEMBER 23 - WBIW reported that the Indiana Broadband Office announced results of Round 18 of the Indiana Connectivity Program: $133,943 to expand broadband access, with 28 Hoosier households awarded across 15 Indiana counties. As of Round 18, the program has allocated over $14 million to provide service to more than 3,600 households, businesses and community anchor institutions across the state. Broadband providers must complete their projects within nine months of the contract date.

It is small, but not a one-off. The Connectivity Program runs in rounds, each one a set of small per-address builds on a nine-month clock that starts at the contract. This is the steady, low-dollar end of the market.

Small money, in rounds, on a clock.

Who should be watching: small rural ISPs and last-mile fiber contractors in Indiana. Watch the Indiana Broadband Office's Connectivity Program rounds.

Source: WBIW, "28 Indiana homes to receive $133,943 in broadband investment", Sep 23, 2026: https://www.wbiw.com/2026/09/23/28-indiana-homes-to-receive-133943-in-broadband-investment/

PATTERN

An acquisition approval with the Fed still to act. A planning grant that pays for the survey. A round of 28 households on a nine-month clock. None of them is a construction contract yet - and each one has a date.

Also on LinkedIn: the newsletter issue