2014 USA - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts

Politicians and telcos battle to stop municipal and state fibre projects

In recent years the US has been engaged in a more concerted fibre deployment effort, principally from the two incumbents Verizon and AT&T but notably also from Google with its successful investment in Kansas City. In addition, the smaller competitor carriers continue to deploy fibre deeper into their networks. Significantly, an increasing number of municipalities are sponsoring FttP networks, and the recent FCC National Broadband Plan envisages a greater role for public FttP networks in the pursuit of its goals.

Verizon has adopted an FttP approach while AT&T has chosen mainly FttN with FttP for new developments and multiple dwelling units. However, Verizon’s fibre-based FiOS network will no longer be built out beyond its existing footprint, and for both Verizon and AT&T there are significant regulator considerations regarding the companies’ legacy copper networks, which are to be mothballed. The report provides an overview of FttP and other fibre network developments, including details of the major fibre deployments and key market statistics and forecasts.

The US still trails its OECD counterparts in terms of broadband penetration, speed and affordability. Nevertheless, the market is currently witnessing significant investment activity in fibre deployments, HFC upgrades and mobile broadband network rollout. Much of the investment in fibre is being undertaken by a significant number of smaller players and municipalities rather than the two key telcos, which are concentrating on a hybrid fibre/copper network and limiting future upgrades beyond what has already been achieved. Municipal activity, often geared at breaking this stranglehold and introducing competition and innovation, continues to be stymied by lobbying pressure from these main telcos, which has led to almost half of the states banning or restricting municipal or state-led infrastructure projects. The report provides overviews, analysis, relevant statistics and subscriber forecasts on the US cable, DSL, FttP, WiFi and WiMAX broadband markets. It also includes an updated analysis on recent court rulings affecting net neutrality.

The US mobile subscriber base is approaching 330 million. Although growth has slowed in line with high penetration levels, mobile data use remains strong while data revenues continue to grow steadily year-on-year. Growth in data ARPU is largely offsetting the ongoing decline in voice services ARPU. Mobile broadband has been underpinned by the deployment and upgrade of 3G networks since 2009, while the expansion of LTE services from a number of operators has provided a greater stimulus for growth in mobile broadband. The US is now at the forefront of LTE services globally, with the main operators serving many millions of customers. The report provides analyses, key statistics and forecasts on the US mobile market, including telcos’ operating data and strategies, regulatory policies, and market developments in emerging technologies.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year