Telco Daily: US Telcos, UK fibre war, ASTS

Research evidence excerpt

Telco Daily: US Telcos, UK fibre war, ASTS

Equity Research

5 June 2026

Telco Daily

US Telcos, UK fibre war, ASTS

We highlight latest research, news flow and significant

observations relevant to our stock coverage across European/

CEEMEA Telecoms, and Global Towers/Satellites. European Telecom Services

Mathieu Robilliard

+44 (0)20 3134 3288

•• US Telcos - Why the US is ground zero for FWA and satellite connectivity disruption mathieu.robilliard@barclays.com

BBI, Paris

•• UK Fibre wars - VM02 argues strongly against Openreach promotions at industry conference

Maurice Patrick

•• AST SpaceMobile - Launch plans affected by Blue Origin failure +44 (0)20 3134 3622

maurice.patrick@barclays.com

Detailed stories Barclays, UK

Ganesha Nagesha

Signal in the Noise Vol. 233: Why the US is ground zero for FWA and satellite connectivity +91 (0)22 6175 1712

disruption ganesha.nagesha@barclays.com

The US provides a unique combination of geographic scale, population dispersion, relatively Barclays, UK

benign regulatory framework and high connectivity prices that make niche technologies more Maxime Delaugerre

economically viable than in most other markets. Telecom convergence has been a relatively +44 (0)20 3555 5672

new theme in the US despite being a broader industry trend globally for many years. Part of this maxime.delaugerre@barclays.com

was on account of the healthy underlying growth in both wireless and wireline connectivity Barclays, UK

which limited cross-over interest from operators in either vertical. However, another limiting

factor is the geography and demographics of the country. The US is the third biggest country in

the world by landmass but one of the least densely populated countries globally. This in turn