Jeff Moore

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a huge factor in the prepaid ecosystem. In the coming years, the two top sources of funding for this ecosystem will be the Total by Verizon store rollout and the ACP.

Wireless competition is getting better and worse in the US. T-Mobile’s energetic rural push will bring stronger competition to hundreds of small markets and will keep affordable prepaid services within reach of many rural residents. Yet while T-Mobile’s rural push is largely from scratch, it is partly derived by cannibalizing Sprint. AT&T is also making a major network push in rural areas, which centers around its FirstNet effort. FirstNet uses low 700 MHz spectrum, so its signal travels far. The carrier is building out more than 1,000 purpose-built FirstNet sites.