Telephone Companies – Industry Research, Analysis, Statistics, and Forecasts

SIC 481 | NAICS 51711

This free online guide to industry research and analysis provides sources for industry statistics, trends, and forecasts, financial ratios, salary surveys, and more.

See the following sections listed below to view available resources by category:

Industry Analysis, Statistics, Trends, and Forecasts

Financial Statements and Financial Ratios

Compensation and Salary Surveys

BV Guides and Databases

For guides to other industries, see our index of over 400 industries.

Industry Analysis, Statistics, Trends, and Forecasts

Industry Research Reports
Wired Telecommunications Carriers (view report)
Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (view report)

Comprehensive industry research reports provide in-depth industry analysis and five-year forecasts, with special focus on the underlying structure and external forces and relationships that affect industries and their performance. Topics addressed in the reports include:

Market size and major product and service segments
Key industry statistics, trends, and financial ratios
Operating conditions and current performance
Competitive landscape and environment
Major company profiles and market shares
Five-year outlook and growth forecasts

Sample report and selected industry statistics including market size, five-year average growth rate, number of businesses, and total employment are available free online.

NCTA
Rural Telecom Magazine
https://www.ntca.org/

Bimonthly trade publication features news and information for small independent community-based communications providers, with topics covered in this publication including business management, operations, marketing, customer service, human resources, technology trends, legislative activities, and regulatory decisions. Current and archived digital editions of the magazine are available online.

TIA
ICT Market Review and Forecast
https://tiaonline.org/

Comprehensive annual market review and forecast identifies where growth is happening and why in the information and communications technology industry, with market segments analyzed by growth prospects including pacesetters (rapidly growing), turnarounds (changing direction, accelerating, or decelerating), steady state (growing at steady rates), and legacy technologies (in long-term decline).

USTelecom
Broadband Industry Statistics
https://www.ustelecom.org/

Statistical profiles provide an overview of the market for broadband services, with topics covered in these profiles including number of service providers by type of technology used, capital investment, residential availability, number of connections by type of connection, household penetration by type of connection, residential market share by type of connection, traffic volume, and employment data.

CTIA
Resources available from this trade association include:

The Wireless Industry
https://www.ctia.org/
Various sections provide summary information on the U.S. wireless communications industry and also include references to additional information for topics such as wireless usage by consumers, user demographics, types of technologies used by wireless service providers, mobile revenue by market segment, and mobile devices' role in e-commerce. All information is available free online.

Annual Survey
https://www.ctia.org/
Annual CTIA survey provides a wide range of current and historical trend data for the industry, with data provided in the report including estimated subscriber connections, total service revenues, total minutes, messages, and megabytes, annual data traffic, monthly average service revenue per unit, and total units by type of device. Selected top-line results from the survey are available free online.

Wireless Industry Indices
https://store.ctia.org/
Annual report provides a comprehensive analysis of the annual CTIA survey results over time and includes detailed benchmarks for industry performance and productivity, with topics addressed in the report including service revenues, subscriber usage (e.g., minutes of usage, messages, and megabytes), capital investment growth, prepaid subscribers, and subscriber-to-employee ratios.

BizMiner Market Analysis Reports
Wired / Wireless Telecommunications Carriers
https://www.bizminer.com Search for "517" to see available reports

Market analysis reports provide industry statistics for a user-defined area on a national, state, county, metro area, or zip code level, with data provided including number of companies, market volume and sales trends, average company sales, sales per employee, staffing and employment trends, average employee wage, and business start up activity and failure rates. Sample report can be viewed online.

More industry research reports »

Financial Statements and Financial Ratios

BizMiner Industry Financial Ratios
Wired / Wireless Telecommunications Carriers

https://www.bizminer.com Search for "517" to see available reports

Five-year financial statement analysis reports provide income statements, balance sheets, and key industry financial ratios for companies of all sizes, with financial data available by sales size range on a national, state, and metropolitan area level including:

Income and expenses in dollars and percentages
Balance sheets in dollars and percentages
Profitability and return on investment ratios
Liquidity and working capital ratios
Asset turnover and efficiency ratios
Capital structure and debt service ratios

Sample financial statement and ratio analysis report is available free online.

Industry Research Reports
Wired and Wireless Telecommunications Carriers

(see links for individual reports) (sample spreadsheet)

Key statistics section of these reports provides detailed income statements and balance sheets on a common-size basis and over twenty-five industry financial ratios, with financial ratios provided for the each of the four most recent calendar years and on a historical average basis for 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year time periods. Sample spreadsheet with breakdowns by asset size can be viewed free online.

More financial benchmarking data »

Compensation and Salary Surveys

NTCA
Compensation and Benefits Report
https://online.ntca.org/

Annual salary survey provides compensation and benefits information for more than 80 job positions in independent community-based telecommunications companies, with survey results broken down by total number of access lines, annual company revenue, primary line of business, total number of full-time-equivalent employees, geographic region, and total number of years in current job position.

PayScale, Inc.
Telecommunications
https://www.payscale.com/

Free online service provides salary, bonus, and hourly wage data for job positions in this sector such as operations manager, network engineer, software engineer, operations center technician, network technician, and field service technician, with employers for which data is provided including Verizon Communications, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, AT&T Mobility, CenturyLink, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile.

More compensation surveys »

BV Guides and Databases

BVMarketData
Private Company Sales Transaction Databases
https://www.bvresources.com/

Free "Visitor Search" allows users to search the DealStats, BIZCOMPS, and FactSet/BVR databases for private company sales transaction data by SIC or NAICS Code using the following codes:

– SIC Code 481 - Telephone Communications

– NAICS Code 51711 - Wired and Wireless Telecommunications

Types of establishments included in these codes

Wired telecommunications carriers - establishments primarily engaged in providing voice, data, text, sound, and video transmission services using various types of wired network technologies, including twisted-pair telephone lines and coaxial and fiber-optic cables.

Wireless telecommunications carriers - establishments with a primary focus on providing voice, data, text, sound, and video transmission services using various types of wireless technologies, including cellular, Wi-Fi, WiMax, microwave, radio, and satellite networks.

Cellular telephone service carriers - establishments providing mobile telecommunications services using cellular networks that typically offer a variety of phone plans and services, including voice calling, text messaging, and mobile internet access, to their subscribers.

Wireless internet service providers - establishments offering internet connectivity services using the fixed wireless method, where a radio link is established between a customer's location and the service provider's radio antenna, or through mobile wireless networks.

Cable television distribution services - establishments that acquire program content from a variety of sources, produce channel packages with varying price points, and distribute channels selected by their customers through a network of coaxial or fiber-optic cables.

Broadband internet service provider - establishments that provide high-speed broadband internet connections to subscribers using various wired and wireless technologies, such as digital subscriber lines, coaxial or fiber optic cables, or satellite or wireless networks.

Direct-to-home satellite system services - establishments primarily engaged in providing point-to-multipoint broadcasting of TV programming directly to subscribers' homes via an outdoor antenna, typically a satellite dish, without the need for a wired connection.

Paging services carriers - establishments involved in the transmission of short messages to pagers or paging devices that facilitates communications between senders and pager users by delivering messages when other forms of communication may not be available.

Sample reports with detailed sales transaction data and valuation multiples are available free online.

Business Valuation Guide
Chapter 29 - Independent Local Telephone Companies
Hawkins, Paschall, Wolters Kluwer, annual
https://www.businessvalue.com/

Comprehensive business valuation guide includes a number of chapters that address valuation issues and factors specific to certain industries, with Chapter 29 of this valuation guide providing an overview of the business environment in which independent local telephone companies operate and discussing pertinent issues and factors to be considered in performing business valuations for these companies.

More valuation data »