United States ILEC Access Lines Fall 10.3% During 2009, to 115.2 Million; Total U.S. Lines Expected to Fall Below 60 Million by 2019. ILEC VoIP Subscribers Expected to Reach 17 Million by 2019

    MANCHESTER, NH, July 28, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- JSI Capital Advisors, LLC (JSICA), a specialized transaction advisory, valuation and research firm serving the rural and independent communications provider industry, has announced the release of Phone Lines 2010, the independent communications provider industry's most comprehensive summary of incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) ranked by access lines, access lines by state, and by parent company.

Phone Lines 2010 represents the tenth edition of JSICA's popular annual publication. In addition to a comprehensive listing of the nation's nearly 1,200 ILECs, Phone Lines 2010 includes detailed projections for ILEC access lines and facilities-based competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) access lines through 2019, broken down by residential and business users.

Also included are annual estimates of total U.S. voice access lines, expected annual line losses, growth in "wireless only" households, and growth in VoIP households. Subscriber projections are broken down by cable, telephone and wireless industry subscribers and penetration information is broken down by nine distinct age categories, as well as wireless voice versus wireless data subscribers.

"When we first compiled our ten-year voice industry projections in 2009, we concluded that traditional ILEC access lines were rapidly losing market share to wireless and cable VoIP products, and that by the last half of the decade, overall U.S. access lines would have fallen to fewer than 60 million lines," said Richelle Elberg, Director and Senior Analyst of JSICA. "As we've analyzed the data and trends that have since emerged, we found that access line substitution is occurring even more rapidly than we anticipated. We now expect "wireless only" households to represent nearly 45 percent of all residences by 2019, and cable telephony market share is forecast to be nearly 27 percent. The good news is that we believe telco VoIP initiatives will allow the ILEC industry to retain approximately 28 percent of the residential voice market, despite the accelerating decline in access lines."

In addition to detailed industry projections, Phone Lines 2010 provides extensive analysis and research regarding ILEC access line trends. The 183-page publication includes information compiled from Public Utility Commission and Federal Communications Commission reports, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, analyst reports, press releases, Web pages, and other publicly available sources. Extensive industry-wide mailings are also conducted by JSICA annually in an effort to compile the most accurate and complete listing of access line information available anywhere.

Phone Lines 2010 is available for purchase for $995. Subscribers to The ILEC Advisor, The Deal Advisor and Phone Numbers, JSI Capital Advisors' monthly newsletters focusing on financial transactions and developments within the independent communications provider industry, receive a free copy of Phone Lines 2010 as part of their subscription. Newsletter subscribers may also order additional copies of Phone Lines 2010 at special discounted rates. To place an order or for more information about Phone Lines 2010 or JSICA's ILEC industry newsletters, contact Heather Rood at 603-622-0379 or visit JSICA's website at www.jsicapital.com. For additional information on JSICA's Ten-Year Voice Industry Forecast, contact Richelle Elberg at 603-986-6082, or email her at [email protected].

JSI Capital Advisors, LLC is a specialized transaction advisory, valuation and research firm. For further information please contact us at (603) 622-0379 or on the Web at www.jsicapital.com.

Richelle Elberg
Director and Senior Analyst
JSI Capital Advisors, LLC
Tel: 603-986-6082
Email: [email protected]

Heather Rood
Production Coordinator
Tel: 603-622-0379
Fax: 603-669-8543
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.jsicapital.com

# # #