FWA

In 2024, the U.S. cable sector generated $568.7 billion in total economic output and supported 1.3 million jobs across the country. This footprint spans broadband networks, video programming, construction, manufacturing, and a broad vendor ecosystem. It underscores why cable remains a central pillar of Americaโ€™s connectivity and media economy even as consumption shifts to IP and streaming. Cable broadband providersโ€”led by Comcast, Charter Communications (Spectrum), Cox, Altice USA (Optimum), Mediacom, Cable One (Sparklight), and WOW!โ€”accounted for $366 billion in total economic impact and nearly 888,000 jobs.
T-Mobile has set a clear handover plan that pairs continuity with a sharpened focus on digital, AI, and new growth vectors. Srini Gopalan, currently Chief Operating Officer, will become CEO of T-Mobile US, succeeding Mike Sievert. Sievert moves to a newly created Vice Chairman role, remaining on the management team and Board to advise on strategy, innovation, talent, and external relations. The structure signals operational continuity and a deliberate next phase for the Un-carrier playbook across wireless, broadband, and adjacent services. Expect Gopalan to intensify investments in AI across care, sales, and network operations.
Lumen is accelerating a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar expansion of its U.S. backbone to match the explosive rise of AI-driven traffic. The company plans to add 34 million new intercity fiber miles by the end of 2028, targeting a total of 47 million intercity fiber miles. In 2025, Lumen has already added more than 2.2 million intercity fiber miles across 2,500+ route miles, with a year-end target of 16.6 million intercity fiber miles. Network capacity grew by 5.9+ Pbps year-to-date, and Lumen earmarked more than $100 million to push 400Gbps connectivity across clouds, data centers, and metrosโ€”now covering over 100,000 route miles with 400G-enabled transport.
A multi-hour outage in the Dallasโ€“Fort Worth airspace tied to legacy telecom services triggered cascading delays and cancellations, spotlighting urgent modernization needs for U.S. air traffic networks. On Friday afternoon, a telecommunications failure forced a ground stop across Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) and Dallas Love Field, with ripple effects at several regional airports. The FAA attributed the incident to multiple failures in TDM-based data services delivered by a local telecom provider, compounded by redundancy gaps overseen by a prime contractor. Initial field reports tied the outage to fiber damage that simultaneously knocked out primary and backup data paths.
With the FCC under pressure to deliver 300 MHz of auctionable spectrum, a group of Senate Republicans is urging the agency to preserve the shared 3.5 GHz CBRS band and the unlicensed 6 GHz band that underpin private 5G and nextโ€‘gen Wiโ€‘Fi. Ten Senate Republicans, including five members of the Senate Commerce Committee, sent a letter urging the FCC to ensure existing operations in the 6 GHz and Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) bands continue โ€œwithout disruption.โ€ NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth called for preserving 6 GHz for Wiโ€‘Fi, a stance applauded by NCTA as a recognition that unlicensed spectrum is an economic engine.
The quarterโ€™s growth underscores a resilient access capex cycle despite macro uncertainty, with fiber and fixed wireless access (FWA) deployments offsetting sluggish cable spend. Fiber PON platforms and 5G FWA customer premises equipment (CPE) drove the uptick, while DOCSIS infrastructure outlays fell 13% year over year on weaker Remote PHY Device (RPD) purchases and a slowdown in new virtual CMTS (vCMTS) licenses. The competitive center of gravity in broadband is shifting. Operators prioritizing XGS-PON rollouts and 5G FWA are growing faster and spending more, while cable operators are pacing upgrades and deferring some distributed access architecture (DAA) investments.
T-Mobile for Business will serve as the Official Telecommunications Services Provider for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, positioning the event as a high-stakes proving ground for end-to-end 5G operations, broadcast connectivity, and fan experience at unprecedented scale. The LA28 organizing committee plans to run events across more than 110 connected locations, including over 40 competition venues distributed throughout Southern California. That footprint transforms LA28 into a distributed, city-scale network project where wide-area 5G must interoperate with venue networks, edge compute, and broadcast infrastructure under peak, dynamic loads.
2025 has seen major telecom and tech M&A activity, including billion-dollar deals in fiber, AI, cloud, and cybersecurity. This monthly tracker details key acquisitions, like AT&T buying Lumenโ€™s fiber assets and Googleโ€™s $32B move for Wiz, highlighting how consolidation is shaping the competitive landscape.
Reliance Jio’s 2026 IPO could be Indiaโ€™s largest public listing, with a projected valuation between โ‚น10โ€“12 lakh crore. As Jio Platforms prepares to float 2.5โ€“5% equity, the move could reshape 5G pricing, digital infrastructure investments, and ARPU strategies across the telecom stack. With cloud, AI, and enterprise services gaining traction, Jioโ€™s IPO positions it as a multi-product digital powerhouse. Airtel and Vodafone Idea may face intensified competition as capital deployment and service bundling accelerate.
India’s telecom usage is now predominantly indoors, and TRAI’s new property rating framework puts digital connectivity on par with core utilities. TRAI’s chairperson flagged a decisive shift: most mobile data is consumed inside homes, offices, malls, hospitals, and transit hubs. Connectivity inside buildings is moving from convenience to necessity. TRAI’s 2024 Regulations introduce a voluntary, performance-based star rating that assesses how ready a property is to deliver high-quality broadband and mobile connectivity. The framework encourages developers to embed Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (DCI) at design stage, aligns with Digital India and Smart Cities Mission, and invites ministries and agencies to incorporate DCI into guidelines, tenders, and training.
Chesapeake, Virginia, in partnership with Boldyn Networks, has launched Chesapeake Connects, a city-owned private LTE and IoT network aimed at transforming public services, improving digital equity, and reducing reliance on commercial carriers. The hybrid system leverages CBRS for Fixed Wireless Access and LoRaWAN for citywide IoT, supporting smart city infrastructure like flood sensors, smart traffic lights, and more.

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