The pace to disconnect wireline services is escalating and price increases may be in your future.
Major providers like Verizon have sold off substantial portions of their wireline base to other companies including Frontier Communications (April 2016). Sprint petitioned to drop support to wireline clients in 2015, while AT&T is actively testing wireless solutions in small rural US communities in an effort to pull the copper plug. These firms are also actively pursuing major FCC filings allowing them to expedite transition from copper-wired lines to IP transmission options. In general, IP technologies are believed to be cheaper to maintain, provide faster service and can pass more information over the networks at the same time. Major carriers are vying for the opportunity to solidify their market position with premium users such as large enterprise and healthcare while promoting emerging technology fields such as IoT (Internet of Things).
For companies like AT&T it is a race to sustain profits. In the residential market, they support 28.4 million POTS customers across their 22-state service area. It is estimated that 39 percent of all households now only use a cell phone. In actions before the FCC, some issues center around the USF/ICC Transformation, Rule Clarification and Correction Order. This directive has the goal of comprehensively reforming and modernizing the high-cost maintenance program for voice service and extending support to broadband-capable infrastructure. In short, it is a price battle to subsidize expansion of equitable services into rural areas that align with the goals of the Communications Act of 1934 and the Connect America Fund. The final conflict under the new White House leadership pits the goals of larger carriers against smaller and emerging players, ultimately impacting the wallets of corporate America. For assistance in building your business strategy to control costs and take advantage of emerging services contact:
