Where is the Value of a Fixed Line?

One often hears it said that “broadband is the anchor service” for fixed-line service providers in the future. One also frequently hears that new value-added services would be a healthy antidote to service providers becoming “dumb pipe” access providers. One sometimes also assumes the growing use of "connected devices" benefits mobile service providers (it does), but not fixed-line providers.

All of those statements are true, but analysts and observers might be missing the growing potential of the “dumb pipe” access business, especially as the home and business environments increasingly feature the use of many different “untethered” devices, and as more users get used to switching even their mobile devices to untethered fixed line connections (Wi-Fi). Razorsight Blog


the value of a fixed-line broadband connection will grow as each additional connected device is added.

In August 2011, for example, the share of non-computer traffic for the U.S. market increased to 6.8 percent. The largest percentage from this share came from mobile devices, which drove 4.4 percent of total digital traffic in the U.S. market. The second largest driver of non-computer traffic was the tablet category, contributing nearly two percent of total traffic.



As the share of U.S. non-computer traffic rose over the past four months, the percentage of that traffic driven by tablets has risen from little more than 20 percent to nearly 30 percent. In May 2011, 22.5 percent of non-computer traffic came from tablets. By August 2011 that figure had grown to 28.1 percent, eating into the share of traffic garnered by mobile devices and other web-enabled devices.

That is but one example of how use of connected devices is changing the value and use of fixed-line broadband connections.



In fact, the GSMA expects the number of total “connected” devices to increase from nine billion in 2011 to more than 24 billion in 2020. “Mobile connected devices” (presumably those with a subscriber information module) will grow 100 per cent from more than six billion in 2011 to 12 billion in 2020.