August 2022

AT&T announced that it is on track to cover more than 30 million locations by the end of 2025 with its fiber network. This expansion is in part because the company expects data consumption in the US to increase 5 times as much from 2021 to 2025. And according to AT&T, closing the digital divide with high-speed internet access to more kids and families also drives more demand.

When I look at all of the new market entrants into the broadband industry and the frenetic pace that internet service providers (ISPs) of all sizes are building fiber, one of the first thoughts that come to my mind is this is an industry that is headed for a roll-up. There has already been some consolidation of last-mile fiber networks, but the handful of networks that have been purchased will pale against the big roll-ups that I think will be coming in a few years. The industry will be ripe for roll-ups for several reasons.

Tim Wu, the White House adviser helping to drive the administration’s push to rein in corporate giants with tougher antitrust enforcement is planning to leave his position in the coming months. Wu is expected to return to teaching at Columbia Law School after a roughly year-and-a-half as special assistant to President Biden for technology and competition policy. Wu was part of a trio of antitrust hawks President Joe Biden installed in 2021 as part of a push to curb the power of sprawling companies — a fight that has focused in particular on tech titans like Amazon and Google.