Fronthaul transport has been a central topic at Light Reading's 5G Transport & Networking Strategies event since 2017. So it is not surprising that fronthaul transport was, once again, a central theme during the virtual iteration of Light Reading's flagship transport event in November. Yet, 2020 marked a distinct change in tenor from definitions and theory to more practical considerations. Heavy Reading research shows that operator interest in fronthaul is increasing and solidifying. In a global operator survey fielded in 2020, nearly half of respondents (46%) reported that fronthaul connectivity will be needed to support their functional split expectations. Splits can include the radio units (RUs) connected to a physically separated distributed unit/central unit (DU/CU) or full functional split architectures of RU+DU+CU.