CONSUMER DEMAND FUELS US WHOLESALE GROWTH
News & Views, June 2008, Capacity Magazine (just arrived in the mail)
Consumer demand is fueling optimism in the US telecoms market. At Capacity USA 2008’s executive roundtable in April, participants noted that new market entrants and increased consumer demand are shaping the US telecoms landscape.
“It is a time when it makes sense to step back and look at the baseline assumptions that are true no matter who wins and who loses in the telecoms market. We believe that the desire for bandwidth will just continue to increase,” said Craig froman, EVP and presendient, access and audience business group at Earthlink. “For telcos success is down to execution. They need to ask: ‘Do you have the right go to market strategy and is the strategy appropriate for consumers?”
AT&T boasted of triple-digit growth in broadband usage from its consumer customers over the last two years with wireless data, primarily driven by consumers, quadrupling year-on-year. Kathryn Morrissey, EVP, wholesale, at AT&T Operations, said: “There is tremendous demand for broadband and content as well as wireless connectivity. It is all about mobility and content and how they are converging. Demand is really exploding on the consumer side and that is really great news for us.”
Carl Grivner, CEO at XO Communications added: “Life is good because of consumer demand. That is the difference between now and the hype of the mid 90s. We are seeing it from all fronts and IP traffic will quadruple by 2011, most of that driven by consumer video. Demand is not going to go away and that is why life is good from a wholesale perspective. In the US, the wireless networks are a little bit behind and they will befin to upgrade their networks and that will add to the growth.”
These certainties about consumer demand were not echoed when discussing the future of regulation in the US market. As Democrats and Republicans battle for the US presidency, telcos are looking for more concise decisions to make under the new regime.
Grivner said: “There is going to be change one way or the other. Whether it’s the Democrats or the Republicans it really comes down to individual experiences and agendas that move the body of the FCC. More importantly the make-up of Congress will be an influence. Different individuals have led the charge in Congress and I view that as more important in the landscape of the regulatory world than anything else. |
