Moody's: U.S. Telecoms are underinvesting in broadband
We&#x27;re talking about 3 different technologies here:<p>1. Fiber optics - this is growing, and companies which have a lot of it are continuing to lay it out (albeit slowly). Also see, Altice&#x27;s recent announcement. My hope is that post-election Google Fiber will ramp back up, simply for the legal defense of saying that they too are a cable company and the same laws should apply. In any case, consumers want it. High-end consumers will pay a premium, and the cost for urban footprint fill-out is not exorbitant.<p>2. Cable coaxial wire - this is a big thick wire that continues to upgrade nicely. DOCSIS 3.0 is basically the same old 1980s&#x2F;1990s cable with better comms protocols. It&#x27;s getting to the point to where they can compete on a reasonable basis with single strand fiber, at a lower speed and price point. So cable companies build out the back-end with fiber, but don&#x27;t have to replant single homes.<p>3. Crappy copper telephone wire - this stuff is thin, it&#x27;s painful to maintain and upgrade and always lags copper. Companies with a lot of this (Windstream, Verizon, AT&amp;T, Frontier) are trying to run it for cash flow rather than spend a lot on upgrades. The telcos push fiber to the node, but it&#x27;s a slow grind and involves very careful cost benefit analysis.<p>3 different technologies. 3 very different strategies. The election has further complicated things. Should VZ save up it&#x27;s ammo and make a play for Sprint, Charter, Dish, or T-Mobile or invest in more broadband plants? I&#x27;d save the ammo given that Tom Wheeler is out on January 20th..