2015 has brought continued turbulence to the telecom sector in addition to many of the tangential markets it now touches.

  • Cable companies have once again set their sights on entering the mobile-enabled business after selling the substantial spectrum assets they acquired in 2006 to Verizon in 2012. Nationwide mobile broadband, VoIP and streaming content are among the most lucrative offerings to be leveraged over their significant, existing networks.

  • Net Neutrality is going to court for the third time. Unlike previous challenges to this broad-sweeping regulatory initiative, the outcome now rides on the FCC’s ability to regulate the internet as a designated component of Title II services, which previously it was not. 

In terms of overall financial impact, Net Neutrality is likely to represent the most important and impactful regulatory issue of the past decade.

  • TV Broadcasters will finally have the opportunity to participate in the FCC’s Broadcast Incentive Auction, which is scheduled to begin on March 29, 2016. Mock trail simulation estimate the auction may generate in excess of $40B

  • Landline carriers (LEC’s, CLEC’s) are shedding decades-old core assets such as landline networks in favor of more lucrative wireless subscribers. The ever-growing trend toward spinning these aging asset bases into REIT structures has spread across many segments of the industry and will likely continue to proliferate.

Our view is these trends will accelerate as wireless becomes the preferred, and persistent, “last mile” for many technologies that have traditionally used cable, copper and fiber. In the meantime, continued cycles of disruption will occur as this unprecedented turnover of technology evolves.