Acquisitions, Convergence and Fixed Wireless Access Drive Revenue Growth in U.S. Wireless Market

U.S. operators are focused on advancing their convergence strategies to grow revenue and create a stickier ecosystem to reduce churn long-term. Operators are improving their ability to offer mobile and broadband service bundles by increasing the availability of their broadband services (including wireline and fixed wireless access [FWA] offerings) and focusing on acquisitions, such as Verizon’s pending purchase of Frontier Communications and T-Mobile’s proposed joint ventures to acquire Metronet and Lumos.
 
Join TBR Senior Analyst Steve Vachon Thursday, April 17, 2025, for an in-depth, exclusive review of TBR’s latest research in the U.S. mobile operator space. Steve will discuss the financial and go-to-market performance of leading U.S. wireless operators as well as recent key developments impacting the U.S. market, such as convergence and FWA.
 
TBR’s U.S. mobile operator research stream details and compares the initiatives, strategies and performance of the largest U.S. operators, including AT&T, DISH Network, Optimum Mobile, Spectrum Mobile, T-Mobile, UScellular, Verizon and Xfinity Mobile.

In this free session on the U.S. wireless market outlook you’ll learn:

• The impact convergence is having on the market via initiatives around M&A and fiber expansion as well as increased competition among cable MVNOs
• How FWA services are disrupting the U.S. broadband market
• How U.S. operators are expanding the scope of their FWA strategies to maximize opportunity capture
• Insights into wireless capex trends in the U.S. and the next phase of 5G investments

 
TBR Insights Live sessions are held typically on Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous sessions can be viewed anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.
 

Mobile World Congress 2025

Attendance at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 is expected to near the annual event’s all-time high set in 2019, underscoring not only the importance of this event to the global mobile ecosystem but also the opportunities and potential inherent in the ecosystem.
 
Though TBR expects MWC25 to focus on the usual topics that have been popular in recent years, we anticipate there will be more substance at this year’s event, especially as it pertains to private networks, network evolution, business model transformation and the role of AI in the ecosystem, pointing to bright days ahead for companies that are aligned with market and technology trends. And with mobile network operators struggling more than ever to monetize their network investments, the stakes are high for finding the next big thing and understanding where new market disruptions may originate.
 
In this TBR Insights Live session, Principal Analyst Chris Antlitz and Senior Analyst Michael Soper share top takeaways from Mobile World Congress 2025. The pair also discuss how emerging opportunities are likely to drive technology and business model disruption and impact markets.
 

 

In the above session of Mobile World Congress 2025 you’ll learn:

• How the telecom industry intends to derive business outcomes from AI
• How enterprises are progressing in their digital transformations and incorporating private networks
• Where in the mobile ecosystem new value is being created and what telcos need to do to generate ROI from new opportunities

 

Excerpt from MWC25: Disruptive Technologies and Business Models Create New Opportunities for the Mobile Ecosystem

The good: AI and FWA remain some of the largest, most impactful opportunities for the telecom industry

AI has real traction and is starting to deliver business outcomes

• AI/GenAI likely to drive next phase of cost reduction at communication service providers (CSPs)
• Significant potential cost savings from myriad use cases
• Call center and customer lifecycle management (OSS/BSS) domains are being disrupted first, followed by sales, marketing and network domains
• New revenue tied to data center interconnect and customer upsell/cross-sell

FWA has much more room to grow

• CSPs continue to underestimate fixed wireless access (FWA) despite real-world traction
• FWA is driving significant top-line revenue for some mobile network operators
• Technological innovations makes 5G FWA act like wireless fiber
• New technologies mitigate spectrum issues

 
Visit this link to download this session’s presentation deck here.
 
TBR Insights Live sessions are held typically on Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous sessions can be viewed anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.

 

 

Cloud market growth will slow in 2025, but will activity follow?

Given the scale and maturity of the cloud market, TBR expects the pace of revenue growth to slow in 2025. In terms of activity, we expect vendors and end customers to make pivotal changes to their cloud strategies in 2025.
 
In this TBR Insights Live session, TBR’s Cloud team — Principal Analyst Allan Krans, Senior Analyst Catie Merrill and Analyst Alex Demeule — on discuss how generative AI (GenAI) will impact cloud vendors’ long-term position in the market and cloud customers’ adoption efforts in 2025.
 
The team will also highlight key insights from Cloud Market Share in 2025: GenAI Spurs Growth but Does Not Promise Vendors Long-Term Gains, part of TBR’s 2025 Predictions special report series. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how GenAI will impact your cloud market strategy in the coming year!
 

 

In the above session on cloud market predictions for 2025 you’ll learn:

• How GenAI will offset some of the slowdown in cloud revenue growth
• How Microsoft will challenge Amazon Web Services’ leadership in IaaS and PaaS
• How SaaS vendors will monetize GenAI in 2025

 

Discussion points from Cloud Market 2025: How GenAI Will Shape the Future

The value of GenAI shifts down the stack, driving new challenges and ecosystem opportunities

Key priorities: Data architecture, agentic AI, and governance and security

Visit this link to download this session’s presentation deck here.

 

 

TBR Insights Live sessions are held typically on Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous sessions can be viewed anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.

 

 

6G’s Fate Will Likely Be Determined by the Level of Government Intervention

The telecom industry continues to struggle with realizing new revenue and deriving ROI from 5G, even after five years of market development. Due to this persistent challenge, to which TBR continues to see no clear solution or catalyst on the horizon to change the situation, communication service providers’ (CSP) appetite and scope of investment in 6G will likely be limited. This lack of clear ROI for the private sector to justify investing sufficiently in 6G puts the fate of the technology into the hands of the government.
 
In this TBR Insights Live session TBR Telecom Principal Analyst Chris Antlitz gives an exclusive review of top predictions from 6G’s Fate Will be Determined by the Level of Government Intervention, part of TBR’s 2025 Predictions special report series. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how 6G will impact your strategy in the coming year!
 

In this above session on 6G you’ll learn:

• What spectrum bands 6G will likely leverage
• How 6G will shape CSPs’ capex investments
• How governments might get involved to ensure 6G becomes a reality

 

Discussion points from 6G: How Government Intervention Globally Will Shape the Next Generation of Telecom

Telecom industry’s struggles with 5G are likely to extend to 6G

• CSPs have spent several hundred billion dollars on 5G infrastructure and spectrum globally thus far, with ROI (i.e., new, profitable revenue growth) still absent.
• 5G investment has been justified thus far as a way to reduce cost per bit and as a marketing play to retain customers.
• Fixed wireless access (FWA) has been successful but does not significantly offset overall 5G investments.
• Only about 20% of CSPs globally have begun deploying 5G core (standalone architecture) thus far, which is a prerequisite for 6G.
• Technological complexity is increasing (e.g., open vRAN, AI, edge computing, network slicing, security), hindering progress.
• Sustained, higher interest rates = higher cost of capital = tighter capex environment

Visit this link to download this session’s presentation deck here.
 

TBR Insights Live sessions are held typically on Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous sessions can be viewed anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.

 

 

What Verticals Will Lead in Private Cellular Networks Adoption Through 2028?

Despite persistent ecosystem maturity challenges, the private cellular networks (PCN) market is growing as leading enterprises advance their Industry 4.0 strategies and governments aim to capitalize on defense and public safety use cases. TBR research indicates that the private 5G network market will see strong growth through this decade as a wide range of industries and governments adopt the technology, but a confluence of factors is slowing the pace of market development relative to the industry’s original expectations.

 

In this TBR Insights Live session Senior Analyst Michael Soper gives n in-depth look at TBR’s private cellular networks research. Each year TBR publishes a vendor benchmark, market forecast and market landscape on PCN, each covering a different aspect of the market. TBR’s private cellular networks analysis includes rankings of key PCN vendors by various revenue splits, the ecosystem for private LTE and private 5G networks, spend on private LTE- and 5G related infrastructure, and more.
 

In The Above FREE Webinar on Private Cellular Networks You’ll Learn:

• Key growth drivers and detractors expected in the PCN market through 2028
• Which verticals are leading and lagging in PCN adoption
• Which ecosystem players are positioned to capitalize on trends in the PCN market

 

Excerpt From Private Cellular Networks: Growth Drivers, Challenges and Opportunities Expected Through 2028

Enterprise buying behavior

Key reasons why enterprises do not want to work with CSPs (i.e., buy services from a CSP’s public network):

• Security, trust and privacy concerns
• Downtime risk
• Cultural mindset — some enterprises want control and possess a can-do attitude
• CSPs lack deep knowledge of industrial processes and pain points.
• Greater flexibility to customize solutions to specific needs
• SIM cards — enterprises do not want to be tethered to the telco
• Preference for unlicensed spectrum

Reasons why enterprises might procure 5G services from CSPs:

• IT and other technical staff may not be comfortable supporting cellular technologies due to a lack of training or credentials and might seek to outsource all or some of this responsibility.
• Network slices could be a more cost-efficient way of consuming 5G resources (e.g., only pay for what you use).
• CSPs can provide dedicated spectrum and SLAs.
• CSPs can cost-effectively provide wide-area network coverage, such as global roaming.

TBR Insights Live sessions are held typically on Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous sessions can be viewed anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.