The FCC’s Local Telephone Competition report, released this week, contains a wealth of data documenting the decline of plain old telephone service (POTS) in favor of VoIP and wireless, as well as the rise of telecom competition.
The downside to the report, based on data collected from service providers, is that the information is already a year old. On the plus side, it is a more comprehensive survey than some others I have seen. Key points from the report include:
- As of Dec. 2011, there were 107 million end-user switched access lines in service, 37 million interconnected VoIP subscriptions and 298 million mobile subscriptions for a total of 442 million local telephone service connections.
- Between Dec. 2008 and Dec. 2011, interconnected VoIP subscriptions increased at a compound annual growth rate of 19%, mobile telephony subscribers increased at a compound annual growth rate of 4.5% and retail switched access lines declined at about 8.8% per year.
- The 144 million wireline retail local telephone service connections in Dec. 2011 were: 37% ILEC residential, 26% ILEC business, 21% non-ILEC residential, and 16% non-ILEC business.
- Between Dec. 2006 and Dec. 2011, total ILEC end-user switched access lines and VOIP subscriptions fell from 138.8 million to 89.4 million.
- During the same period, the same numbers for non-ILECs rose from 28.6 million to 54.1 million, representing a jump in market share from 17.1% to 37.7%.
- The majority of interconnected VoIP subscribers (31.5 million) buy their service in a bundle with a broadband connection, including 4.7 million who buy their service from an ILEC and 26.8 million who buy their service from a non-ILEC.
