USTelecom Reports Record-Breaking Investment Broadband by Providers in 2022

Capital expenditures by U.S. broadband providers surged to $102.4 billion in 2022, according to USTelecom's "2022 Broadband Capex Report." USTelecom's snapshot report was released on September 8 of this year. 

The $102.4 billion annual capex total is up from $86 billion in 2021 and $79.4 billion in 2020. According to USTelecom's 2022 report, U.S. broadband providers have invested over $2.1 trillion in network infrastructure since 1996. In past reports, USTelecom has pointed out that these estimates likely are conservative because they exclude annual investment by small U.S. broadband providers as well as U.S. satellite broadband providers.

Strong private investment in next-generation networks is an intended result of the FCC's free market-friendly broadband policy that has been in place since early 2018. In its Restoring Internet Freedom Order (2018), the Commission recognized that "increased broadband deployment and subscribership require investment, and the regulatory climate affects investment." In that order, the Commission found that "reinstating the information service classification for broadband Internet access service is more likely to encourage broadband investment and innovation" than subjecting broadband Internet access services to public utility regulation." 

 

Following the Senate's confirmation of Anna Gomez to be the fifth Commissioner on September 7, it is widely anticipated that the FCC will be revisiting the statutory classification of broadband Internet access services. But the success of the Commission's existing market-oriented policy in promoting investment – including $102.4 billion in capital investment in broadband by private market providers in 2022 – deserves front-and-center attention when the debate over broadband regulatory policy ramps up.