After the FCC went more than two years from March 2023 to July 2025 without the ability to conduct spectrum auctions, Congress included a provision restoring the agency’s authority to so in the budget bill that passed last week. Impact: While the controversial bill faced a lot of opposition on a range of topics before …
FCC Auction Authority Restored, NTIA to Consider More 5G Spectrum Read More »
With so much uncertainty in the world right now, it wouldn’t be surprising to see companies pull back on risk-taking until things get more stable both economically and politically in the U.S. and around the globe. Impact: But that hasn’t been the case in U.S. telecom so far in 2025 (and wasn’t really in 2024 …
Telecom M&A Shows Resilience in First Half of 2025 Read More »
The U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration finally released a new notice of funding opportunity for the $42.5 billion federal BEAD program on June 6. Impact: As expected, the program’s fiber preference has been eliminated in favor of a more technology-neutral approach, although in this case technology neutral seems to …
BEAD Changes Throw the Entire Program into Disarray Read More »
Though less out of the blue than the Charter-Cox merger announcement on May 16, the news less than a week later that Lumen had agreed to sell its Mass Markets fiber business to AT&T still made a significant impact. Impact: After several months of negotiations, AT&T will acquire the majority of Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber …
AT&T Acquires Lumen’s Mass Markets Fiber Assets for $5.75B Read More »
The Trump Administration’s wide-ranging tariffs will undoubtably have a negative impact on telecom providers, with most of that expected to come from an increase in equipment costs that will make network upgrades and expansions more expensive. Impact: The tariffs on China, Vietnam, and the European Union potentially could do real damage to telecom supply chains …
Broadband and Wireless Providers Face Increased Costs with Tariffs Read More »
Although carriers’ spectrum deals don’t always make the news or generate big headlines, T-Mobile’s hunger for additional spectrum and its recent activity in that arena has drawn attention. Impact: First things first: In Grain Management, LLC, T-Mobile appears to have finally found a buyer for the 800 MHz spectrum Dish Network (now EchoStar) had been …
Frontier continued to grow its fiber presence in 2024, adding fiber subscribers and expanding its fiber footprint while waiting for its acquisition by Verizon to close by early next year. Impact: In general, Frontier has been relatively quiet since shareholders approved the Verizon deal in November. It hasn’t held an earnings call either of the …
Fiber Propels Frontier to “Landmark” Year in 2024 Read More »
T-Mobile continued to lead the way on fixed wireless access services throughout 2024, but Verizon started to narrow the gap in quarterly net adds and AT&T saw its Internet Air numbers increase faster than expected. Impact: Despite a bit of a slowdown in quarterly net adds throughout 2024, fixed wireless isn’t going anywhere anytime soon …
Both AT&T and Verizon closed 2024 with decent fiber growth designed to propel their updated fiber expansion strategies forward and capture more convergence opportunities. Impact: As noted by CEO John Stankey, AT&T ended the year with strong Q4 fiber results, which he claimed has the company well-positioned for a “new era of growth” after years …
Q4 Fiber Gains Fuel Convergence Hopes for AT&T and Verizon Read More »
Lumen finally appears ready to move forward with a potential sale of its consumer fiber operations, according to a Reuters report that broke on December 20 and said the company has hired Goldman Sachs to gauge potential interest in Lumen’s consumer fiber assets. Impact: For now, Lumen is mostly in the exploratory phase of a …
