China Mobile FTTH Decline. How close is peak landline?

China Mobile lost half a million FTTH customers in December, 2021.

Dec 2021Total: 240,106,000Change: -459,000

As wireless gets better, more people will decide to go wireless-only. T-Mobile tests at 50 Mbps up, 90 Mbps down at my house, much faster than cable on the upstream. I’d like to switch. That;s more than enough speed for 95% of people who are not heavy downloaders.

US landline broadband will almost certainly decline over the next 5 years.

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February Need to Know: Corona, iPhone blowout 2020, $8B German FTTH, U.S. Lifeline cuts, 370M 4G at Jio India

Corona is already the worst epidemic of the last thirty years. The best scientists in the world aren’t sure when it will be brought under control. My brother, a Professor of Emergency Medicine, is hopeful of control soon, but isn’t certain.

If contained, cell phones sales will be down 40-70 million in Q1, including a reduction of >10 million in the China 5G plan. Many stores are closed and people worldwide holding back. The supply chain is already struggling. Let us all hope Corona does not get worse, which would produce total havoc in our connected world.

Apple expects a blowout 2020, upping chip orders by 50% (Digitimes) The $399 SE phone may miss its March date but is coming soon, Apple’s biggest profits are now coming from a cut of the store games & apps. Dropping price will yield more buyers for the services.

iPhone 5G in the fall should also be humungous. More than half of the premium phone buyers ib the West go Apple and will probably rush in. Verizon is racing to have 5G ready when the iPhone comes out.

Deutsche Glasfiber raised $8B for 6 million fiber homes passed.

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Fiber: What’s Goin’ On

Telcos are adding fiber at a rapid pace. It makes money. AT&T’s CFO John Stephens explains that the fiber delivers three sources of revenue.

Fiber works. I can use it three times. I can use it for my consumers. I can use it for my business customers. And I can use it for my wireless backhaul.

CEO Hans Vestberg of Verizon used almost exactly the same comments to explain the 1.400 miles of fiber it is building every month.

Orange/FT, Telefonica Spain, Bell Canada, and Telus cover more than half their territory with fiber and continue to add more. Orange has 8 million more homes set to pass.

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