The latest data from Leichtman Research suggests that cable broadband continues to dominate the United States telecom market. According to the firm's latest data, the seventeen largest cable and phone providers in the country -- representing about 93% of the market -- acquired nearly 1.2 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in the first quarter of 2014. Of that total, the nation's top cable companies added about 970,000 subscribers on the quarter.

Regulation prevents them from hanging up on many of these users, so the telcos are hoping that a combination of apathy, price hikes and unreasonable, circa 1997-policies (like forcing DSL users to take an expensive landline they don't want) drive customers away so they can focus on wireless in those markets.

While the telcos are actively driving customers to cable in un-upgraded markets, cable users are headed to telco TV in markets the telcos have upgraded to faster tech and TV platforms. Leichtman notes that AT&T and Verizon added 732,000 subscribers via U-verse and FiOS in the first quarter (most coming from cable TV in upgraded telco markets), while having a net loss of 638,000 DSL subscribers (many going to cable broadband in markets the telcos' refuse to upgrade).

While cable is losing customers on the TV front (in large part because AT&T and Verizon have been more aggressively innovative on set tops and other services), cable's eating the phone companies' lunch when it comes to broadband. Cable has a 59% broadband market share and growing, with the top cable companies having 15.1 million more subscribers than the top telephone companies.

"With nearly 1.2 million net additions in the first quarter of 2014, broadband providers had their best quarter in two years," said Bruce Leichtman. "If recent history is an indicator, however, gains will be slower over the next couple of quarters. In each of the past four years, net adds in the first quarter were greater than in the second and third quarters combined."