CoBank posts an article on “Why the smartphone-broadband bundle should be on every rural operator’s radar.” Here are their key points:

• Bundles are winning: Customers increasingly prefer bundled smartphone and home broadband services for simplicity and savings – national carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, Comcast, and Charter are capitalizing on this trend and gaining market share.
• Rural competition is heating up: Massive federal funding, expanded wireless coverage, and improving satellite options (like Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper) are intensifying competition in rural markets.
• Technology is enabling growth: Advances like the 6GHz band and next-gen FWA systems (e.g., Tarana) are making wireless broadband more viable and scalable – even in hard-to-serve areas.
• Smaller operators are taking notice: Regional players like WOW!, Midco, and Mediacom, along with NCTC members, are beginning to offer mobile services to compete with bundled offerings.
• The risk of doing nothing is rising: While offering mobile isn’t easy or cheap, not responding to the bundled threat could mean higher churn, lost customers, and long-term erosion of market share.