TDS Telecom updates long-term fiber plans
The Madison, Wisconsin-based company released updated fiber program targets; seeks to become a fiber-centric broadband provider.
TDS Telecommunications LLC (TDS®) released its updated fiber program goals during its fourth quarter earnings report. The telecommunications company is now targeting 1.8 million marketable fiber service addresses, which is a 50% increase from the company’s previous long-term goal. TDS Telecom ended the year at 928,000 total fiber service addresses.
“We’ve increased our goals to reflect our ongoing fiber expansion and E-ACAM programs,” said Kris Bothfeld, CFO and Vice President of Finance.
The goals include increasing the percentage of marketable service addresses served by fiber to 80%, up from the previous goal of 60%; the company currently is at 52%. TDS Telecom is also targeting 95% of its footprint to have speeds of at least 1 Gig; it ended the year at 74%. Marking another milestone, TDS Telecom is planning to reduce the addresses served by copper in its footprint to just 5%.
The company also shared priorities for 2025, which involve delivering approximately 150,000 marketable fiber service addresses, growing broadband net adds, and executing on a business transformation plan.
“We’ve been transforming into a fiber company in a big way for several years,” said Bothfeld.
“We’re now also focusing on streamlining our operations to enhance elements of our customer experience and further improve our margins and cost structure.”
In 2024, TDS Telecom made significant progress, executing on a number of initiatives that support its long-term vision and goals. The company deployed 129,000 new marketable fiber addresses and grew residential revenue 6% year over year, as the company saw growth in both broadband connections and average revenue per connection. Top-line growth, coupled with continued cost management, drove a significant increase in profitability year over year. TDS Telecom spent the past year planning and engineering for the multi-year E-ACAM program that will bring faster speeds to TDS customers and further reduce the reliance on copper technology. The company also launched its MVNO product, TDS Mobile, to limited markets and plans to fully launch it throughout its footprint in 2025.
Bothfeld added, “We are excited about 2025 and the opportunities ahead.”
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All information set forth in this news release, except historical and factual information, represents forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current estimates, projections, and assumptions, which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: intense competition; the ability to attract people of outstanding talent throughout all levels of the organization; TDS Telecom's lack of scale relative to larger competitors; changes in demand, consumer preferences and perceptions, price competition, or churn rates; advances in technology; impacts of costs, integration problems or other factors associated with acquisitions, divestitures or exchanges of properties and/or expansion of TDS Telecom’s businesses; the ability of the company to successfully construct and manage its networks; difficulties involving third parties with which TDS Telecom does business; uncertainties in TDS Telecom’s future cash flows and liquidity and access to the capital markets; the ability for Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. to make payments on its indebtedness or comply with term of debt covenants; the effect on TDS Telecom's business if the collateral securing the secured term loan of TDS Telecom’s parent, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., is foreclosed upon; conditions in the U.S. telecommunications industry; the value of assets and investments; the state and federal regulatory environment, including changes in regulatory support received and the ability to pass through certain regulatory fees to customers; pending and future litigation; cyber-attacks or other breaches of network or information technology security; indirect control by the TDS Voting Trust; disruption in credit or other financial markets; deterioration of U.S. or global economic conditions; and the impact, duration and severity of public health emergencies. Investors are encouraged to consider these and other risks and uncertainties that are more fully described under “Risk Factors” in the most recent filing of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.’s Form 10-K.
