Consolidated Communications is on pace to exceed its 2021 goal for gigabit-capable fiber upgrades after the independent telco reported Thursday that it had achieved 97,000 upgrades in the third quarter.
The figure, reported as part of the company’s third quarter earnings, comes after Consolidated reported 76,000 fiber upgrades in the second quarter this year and 46,000 in the first quarter as it embarked on a goal to reach almost 2 million fiber upgrades by 2025.
Overall, the company’s penetration rate is now up to 18%, after being at 14% the previous quarter. The 2026 goal would translate to fiber upgrades for 70% of Consolidated’s total service area.
“We are executing well and ahead of schedule on our fiber network deployment and are on track to upgrade more than 300,000 locations to gig-capable fiber this year," said Bob Udell, president and CEO at Consolidated Communications. "So far in 2021, we have increased consumer fiber connections 20% year to date and grew consumer data average revenue per unit 7%. This progress positions Consolidated for ongoing growth and opportunity as we prepare to launch a new brand, introducing a superior fiber product and exceptional customer experience."
Within the next month, Consolidated will add even more fuel to its fiber fire with the planned mid-November launch of new branding that will highlight Consolidated’s offering of symmetrical 1 Gbps upload/download speeds and whole-home mesh Wi-Fi without data caps or contract requirements, Udell said. The company also has been upgrading its overall customer experience with web-based order, self-service capabilities and other tools.
Regarding Consolidated’s earnings numbers, revenue for the third quarter of 2021 came in at $318.6 million, with consumer broadband revenue up 2.1% to $68.6 million, and data and transport revenue up 1.1% to just over $91 million.
That overall revenue figure was down 2.6% compared to the third quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, capital expenses were up sharply in the third quarter, totaling more than $144 million. This was due not only to the ongoing fiber build-out, but also because Consolidated moved to acquire more customer premises equipment as telecom and other industries continue to face supply chain disruptions and product shortages.
“We’ve accelerated our fiber acquisition and we’re putting it up fast to mark our places on the poles and in the ground so we’re ready to deploy,” Udall said. “So, we’re doing well on physical plant, but we found ourselves at an inflection point between Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 , so we went ahead and bought some additional Wi-Fi 5 gear to hedge because there are concerns about Wi-Fi 6 chip availability and we don’t see chip supply chain problems being resolved in near future.”
