Fybe Launches Martin County NC Fiber Buildout.
What It Means for Subcontractors.

Fybe announced the buildout in early 2026. Martin County sits in eastern North Carolina — rural, agricultural, and historically underserved on broadband. The project is a multi-phase fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment that will eventually reach more than 2,100 homes and businesses across the county.

Fybe CEO Bo Coughlin said in the announcement: “Martin County residents and businesses deserve fast, modern connectivity, and we’re proud to advance this work.” The company has framed the project as core to its rural-NC mission — closing the digital divide for communities the bigger carriers have historically skipped.

Fybe is a fiber internet and voice service provider serving rural North Carolina, headquartered in Edenton, NC. It operates as eNCore Connects, dba Fybe.

The company is a founding member of eNCore, a 501(c)(3) non-profit established to bridge the digital divide in North Carolina by serving unserved and underserved communities. eNCore’s non-profit status means Fybe projects often pair with public broadband funding sources (NC GREAT grant, federal BEAD, county and municipal matches) — which in turn brings stricter procurement, documentation, and insurance compliance requirements than a fully private carrier build.

The Fybe Martin County project is one piece of a much larger rural North Carolina fiber wave. Several drivers are converging:

The net effect: North Carolina has dozens of simultaneous rural fiber builds in motion through 2030, and the labor market for qualified OSP / aerial / splicing crews is tight. Subcontractors who are credentialed, insured, and ready to mobilize have leverage.

A multi-phase rural FTTH buildout the size of Martin County typically subcontracts several scopes — sometimes to one prime, sometimes split among multiple subs. The work tends to be:

Aerial fiber on existing utility poles (joint-use agreements with the local electric coop and incumbent telco) plus underground bores and trenching for crossings, road bores, and final approaches to homes. In rural NC this often means horizontal directional drilling under rural state-maintained roads, NCDOT encroachment permits, and coordination with the local cooperative.

Backbone splicing at fiber distribution hubs, splitter cabinets, and slack-loop locations, plus drop splicing at the home or business as customers are connected. Fusion splicing, OTDR testing, and as-built documentation are core scopes.

Per-home work: aerial or buried drop installation, mounting the ONT, terminating the service drop, and activating the customer. This is where most of the labor hours of an FTTH build are spent. Many providers prefer to use specialized drop install crews separate from their OSP construction subs.

NC 811 locate requests, damage prevention, and post-construction restoration (yard restoration, asphalt patches, NCDOT right-of-way restoration). These obligations frequently roll to the subcontractor, and underground utility strikes are one of the most common claims on rural FTTH work.

Working as a fiber subcontractor in North Carolina has some state-specific rules that catch out-of-state crews off-guard. Here’s what matters most:

Coverage / Requirement	Typical NC ISP Sub Requirement (Fybe / Brightspeed / Co-op Primes)
General Liability	$1M / $2M minimum; many primes want $2M / $4M aggregate. Per-project aggregate strongly preferred. Underground utility strike coverage must NOT be excluded.
Umbrella / Excess	$2M–$5M typical. Larger primes and federally-funded scopes push toward $5M+.
Workers’ Compensation	NC requires workers’ comp for any business with 3 or more employees (including officers and corporate members). 1099 misclassification is heavily scrutinized on grant-funded builds.
Commercial Auto	$1M CSL with hired & non-owned auto coverage — especially important for rural crews driving long distances.
Inland Marine	Coverage for fusion splicers, OTDRs, fiber test equipment, locator gear at job sites. NC rural sites often have limited security overnight.
NC Contractor License	NC requires a General Contractor license for projects over $30,000. Pure fiber subcontract work often falls under the prime’s GC, but verify your scope — bored road crossings and underground utility work can push the licensing requirement.
NC Electrical License	If your scope touches anything beyond low-voltage drop terminations (e.g., powered cabinets, AC connections), an NC electrical contractor classification may be required.
NC 811 Damage Prevention	Required by state law before any underground work. Locator ticket records become part of your claim documentation if a strike happens.

• NC Industrial Commission workers’ comp enforcement — NC actively audits 1099 contractor classification on construction work. Crews labeled as 1099 with no comp coverage can trigger fines for the prime, which means primes increasingly reject those subs at intake.
• NCDOT encroachment permits — required for any work in state right-of-way. Permit holders typically must carry GL and provide hold-harmless agreements.
• Joint-use pole agreements — if you’re working on poles owned by an electric coop or Duke Energy, the pole owner usually requires you to name them as an additional insured, with primary and noncontributory wording.
• Federal-funded (BEAD, ReConnect) scopes — bring Davis-Bacon prevailing wage compliance, certified payroll, and tighter insurance audits. Your broker needs to be ready for the documentation.
• Eastern NC hurricane / flooding exposure — coastal and eastern NC counties (including Martin) sit in storm-exposed territory. Confirm your inland marine and property coverage for equipment and materials stored on site.

The Fybe Martin County project is one of many active rural NC fiber builds. Subcontractors who get organized in 2026 can ride this wave for years. Here’s how to position:

• Register as a vendor with Fybe / eNCore Connects directly (rural NC fiber primes maintain their own vendor lists)
• Identify the GCs and OSP primes Fybe and eNCore use, and apply to their pre-qual programs
• Track state and federal grant awards in NC — the NC Broadband Infrastructure Office publishes GREAT and CAB award lists publicly
• Build relationships with electric cooperatives operating in eastern NC (Roanoke Connect, Pee Dee EMC, Tri-County EMC) — many are running their own fiber subsidiaries

• Verify NC workers’ comp coverage if you have 3+ employees (including officers)
• Confirm NC contractor license classification matches the scope you bid — coordinate with the prime if their GC license covers you
• Have OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 current for all field crew
• Maintain BICSI Installer and FOA CFOT certifications for fiber-specific scope
• Register for NC 811 and have a documented damage prevention process

• Confirm GL limits at $2M / $4M with NO underground utility strike exclusion
• Add umbrella to at least $5M for grant-funded scopes
• Get hired & non-owned auto coverage for long-distance rural crew travel
• Verify inland marine covers your splicers, OTDRs, and fiber test gear at remote NC sites
• Pre-build a COI template that can issue additional insured endorsements (with primary & noncontributory) on short notice
• Verify your broker can document Davis-Bacon compliance support for federally-funded scopes