The USTelecom figures stated that 2023’s investments were the second highest industry capex in 22 years, behind only 2022’s $102.4 and is more than 23% above the historic annual average.
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The 2023 expenditures bring the total invested by US firms to nearly $2.2 trillion since 1996.
The levels of spending in recent years have not been seen since the turn of the century and the speculative spending from the dotcom bubble.
According to USTelecom, investments in the past 12 months stem from actual market demands rather than speculation, including a range of expansions such as increased fibre deployments, the integration of fibre and mobile networks, and increased rural broadband construction.
The rise in demand for AI was also cited as a potential factor behind increased spending, with providers keen to build out network capacity to “keep pace” with applications fueling rising bandwidth demands.
USTelecom emphasised the significance of the 2023 figures, noting that the investment amounts coincided with broadband prices continuing to lag behind overall inflation. This situation makes high-speed broadband “one of the most cost-effective consumer services.”
The capex figures only include data from larger players and do not include smaller wireline broadband providers, electric cooperatives, or satellite broadband providers. The association estimated that their capex contributions would be no less than $2 billion.
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