Copper decommissions spread across the US

Some smaller US telecommunications providers are toying with the notion of shutting down their copper networks, following years of pioneering efforts by bigger network operators like AT&T and Verizon. According to the financial analysts at New Street Research, Frontier and TDS Telecom are eyeing the savings they might be able to derive from shuttering legacy network technology. To be clear, virtually all of the US market's telco operators are shifting from copper to fiber for their new network buildouts and upgrades. Indeed, the Fiber Broadband Association and RVA Market Research and Consulting estimate that fiber lines now pass nearly 78 million US homes, up 13% from a year ago. What's unclear though is whether every single decommissioned copper location will be serviced by fiber. In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission outlined rules for carriers that intend to turn off copper networks and replace them with fiber. The agency noted that operators should feel free to make the switch as long as they keep providing services to customers.