US telcos withdrawing from DSL and telephony markets – a case of lobbying power and poor regulation

摘要

During the last few months the US’snmain DSL providers AT&T and Verizonnhave begun retracting from the DSLnand landline market in many rural andnless commercially viable areas whilenconcentrating on their wireless LTEnambitions. DSL and voice telephonynprovide relatively low returns, whichncan be whittled away through networknmaintenance costs, while LTE promisesnto deliver proportionately higher profits,nbased on exorbitant charges by datanvolume. There does not yet appearnto be a ceiling for consumer use ofnmobile broadband, particularly givennthe preponderance of tablets andnsmartphones: by early 2012 about 60%nof AT&T’s postpaid subscriber base wasnusing smartphones, and smartphonesnnow account for up to 80% of new mobilensubscriptions. Operators naturally seenmobile data as a potential cash-cow toncompensate for declining revenue innother sectors.