DSL devotee

Moving Forward

Where its own infrastructure is concerned, TDS is deploying deep fiber and IPTV in a few key markets and uses fiber to the home (FTTH) for all new builds — and Wittwer said he anticipates overbuilding more markets in the future with fiber.

“There are a number of markets where we're aggressively replacing copper with fiber if customer needs demand,” he said. “But if they're happy with the speeds offered by DSL, we won't replace that with fiber.”

The company also hasn't ruled out doing IPTV over DSL. But Wittwer doesn't believe the technology is ready yet. “Our belief is you need to have reliable VDSL2 to give people the kinds of speeds over copper to support the bandwidth customers need and the channels customers want,” he said.

TDS' approach is less aggressive than that of telco giants AT&T and Verizon, both of which are widely deploying fiber to support IPTV. Ironically, the TDS approach also is less aggressive than that of some of the smallest telcos, which are able to rely on the Universal Service Fund and Rural Utilities Service loans to support the construction of new triple-play infrastructures.

“The capital investment needed to aggressively roll out IPTV is probably a harder pill for publicly traded ILECs to swallow than for smaller telcos that aren't publicly traded and don't have to worry about share price,” said Bernie Arnason, managing partner for Independent telco consultancy Pivot Media.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing, Arnason added. “Some still think FiOS is the wrong move,” he said, referring to Verizon's advanced — but costly to deploy — triple-play offering. “Wall Street is so short-term-focused, you see its opinion changes from quarter to quarter.”

Roe defended TDS' strategy even more strongly. “A company like TDS never should be, nor will they be, as aggressive in deploying fiber or IPTV as the more-urban telcos,” he said.