Telephone Companies Escalate Pressure on Cable with Ongoing FTTH Builds

Telephone companies (telcos) may still be trailing cable operators in the broadband race, but their continuous fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) builds could help narrow the subscriber divide. As more customers want higher speeds, this group is moving to deploy fiber to the home (FTTH) across select markets as their traditional DSL and POTS voice base dwindles. This is being driven on two sides: Tier-1 telcos and Tier-2 telcos. The big three--AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen—are Tier-1 telcos that are all seeing growth in fiber-based broadband. Tier-2 telcos include a diverse mix of players in rural and secondary markets. Like the Tier-1 telcos, several Tier-2 telcos have also expanded their FTTH footprints. Charts by Broadband Communities show how telcos performed during the third quarter, based on the information in service providers’ earnings reports.