Patrick Brogan

US broadband provider capital investment increased by approximately $3 billion in 2018, continuing the positive momentum shift that began in 2017 when the Federal Communications Commission initially signaled its intention to restore a forward-looking regulatory framework for broadband.  According to a preliminary analysis of 2018 company data, USTelecom estimates that US broadband providers invested approximately $75 billion in 2018, up from $72 billion the prior year.

U.S. broadband providers continue to deploy and upgrade networks to bring consumers across the nation ever-faster service and more competitive choice, according to a new USTelecom and CensusNBM analysis of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadband availability data for mid-year 2017. This research demonstrates the real economic impact of broadband capital investment dollars: more and faster broadband for American consumers and businesses.

Broadband investment rebounded in 2017, as a series of positive consumer and innovation policies and a pro-growth regulatory approach helped reverse the industry’s previous spending pullback, according to new research released by USTelecom. USTelecom’s annual broadband capital expenditure report shows broadband provider capital expenditures grew to $76.3 billion in 2017, compared to $74.8 billion in 2016, an increase of $1.5 billion.

US internet traffic is projected to grow two-and-a-half times over the next five years, according to a new USTelecom analysis of annual Internet Protocol (IP) traffic data from Cisco’s Visual Networking Index(link is external), a continuation of explosive growth over the past decade. A massive shift toward online consumer video is the primary driver of traffic growth.

US broadband providers invested approximately $76.0 billion in network infrastructure in 2016 down from approximately $77.9 billion in 2015 and $78.4 billion in 2014. From 1996 through 2016, the broadband industry has made capital investments totaling $1.6 trillion. The start of the decline, the first since the recession ended in 2009, coincided with Federal Communications Commission’s 2015 decision to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act.