Understanding the Need for Network Modernization
About
For decades, copper landlines served as the original conduit for connecting our nation. But the emergence of high-speed broadband and the country’s push to ensure modern networks reach every community have opened up a far wider range of opportunities. As a result, less than two percent of U.S. households today rely solely on landline connections. Consumers need a modern regulatory environment that advances rather than undercuts tech modernization.
Resources
Broadband 2025: Building the Future Faster
USTelecom sent a letter to President Donald Trump and the 119th Congress outlining six concrete actions that can be taken quickly to speed up connectivity to all in America. ‘Broadband 2025: Building the Future Faster’ outlines a series of key policy priorities with specific recommendations and strategies to advance each goal in the first 100 days.
Greener Connections: Understanding the Environmental Impacts of Fiber and Copper Communications Networks
A new white paper by Ramboll explores how as the world increasingly relies on fast, reliable, and secure data transmission, the demand for fiber optic lines will continue to grow. To enable a faster transition to modernized networks, it will be critical for regulators to support providers working to retire existing copper infrastructure. Promoting investment in fiber optic infrastructure not only addresses current communication needs but also helps ensure a more efficient and sustainable network in the future.
Issue Brief: Removing Barriers to Connecting Communities
With a historic investment of government and private sector funds in broadband on the horizon, Congress should move quickly to remove barriers to broadband deployment. All policies should be viewed through the lens of connecting communities—from expedited permitting to relief from legacy obligations to make way for network modernization, to pole attachment rules that promote collaboration and coordination.
Issue Brief: A Vital Step Toward Universal High-Speed Broadband
With the transition to next-generation broadband networks moving forward, outdated regulations force broadband providers to prop up aging copper networks at the expense of focusing investment on achieving a connected nation. Learn more about the tech transition process below.
Op-Ed: The Golden State Can Do Better than Copper Landlines
So far, over twenty states have met the moment—acting to remove antiquated rules and fully embrace their broadband-fueled future while ensuring customers have continuity of service. This op-ed emphasizes that it’s California’s turn to allow companies to retire their old copper networks.
Event: USTelecom Broadband Investment Forum
America’s broadband industry invested $94.7 billion in U.S. communications infrastructure in 2023, as broadband providers worked intensively to connect communities to high-speed networks. What can the administration do to help spur even more investment and innovation in our nation’s broadband networks?
Event: American Connectivity Forum
As Washington gears-up for critical decisions about the future of the Universal Service Fund, this event hosted leaders from the policy community along with senior executives from the nation’s innovative broadband providers for important discussions on the path forward to connect our communities.
Event: Network Modernization: Connecting Changes Everything
USTelecom President & CEO Jonathan Spalter and telecom industry leaders discuss the role of network modernization in meeting today and tomorrow’s connectivity needs.