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Cable Providers Continue to Dominate the Broadband Industry

Cable operators continue to absolutely dominate the US broadband industry, adding 84% of all net new subscribers during the second quarter. According to Analysis by Leichtman Research, the industry as a whole only added around 230,000 net new subscribers last quarter, thanks in large part to a saturated market. During that period cable providers added 460,000 subscribers, while telcos saw a net loss of around 230,000 during the quarter. In short: cable providers continue to absolutely dominate the industry.

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"Cable companies added about 3.1 million broadband subscribers over the past year, while Telcos had net losses of about 550,000 broadband subscribers," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc.

"At the end 2Q 2017, cable had a 64% market share vs. 36% for Telcos. The broadband market share for cable is now at the highest level it has been since the first quarter of 2004."

The firm is quick to point out that every single major telco saw net broadband losses last quarter, but it doesn't bother to explain why. Some telcos (Verizon) have all but given up on next-generation broadband upgrades as they shift they forus toward wireless and advertising. Other telcos (Windstream, Frontier, CenturyLink) are either incapable or unwilling to upgrade their lagging DSL customers at any real scale, or have prioritized focusing on enterprise revenues.

The result? There's tens of millions of frustrated DSL customers paying a significant amount of money for sub 6 Mbps DSL connections. Connections that don't even technically meet the FCC's now standard definition of broadband (25 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up). Those customers are all fleeing to cable, which is now starting to deliver speeds up to 1 Gbps via relatively inexpensive DOCSIS 3.1 cable upgrades.

And while this is all great news for cable providers, it's not such great news for the American consumer. As competitive pressure diminishes, these cable giants are starting to enjoy a bigger broadband monopoly than ever before in many markets, since they technically have few if any competitors at speeds of 25 Mbps or above. That means less incentive to lower rates and improve customer service, and more incentive to engage in consumer annoyances like usage caps and overage fees, or privacy and net neutrality violations.

Combine that with the current government's plan to effectively gut all meaningful oversight of these uncompetitive giants, and you've got a real recipe for trouble.

Most recommended from 17 comments



tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

4 recommendations

tshirt

Premium Member

I wish the report/chart..

...better described those that have BROADBAND, from those with INTERNET speeds from each provider, and also discussed homes passed vs served, and speeds available vs taken from each provider.
also Is the tapering off from 3M to 2.5million annual increase a sign of saturation of existing territory? or price sensitivity? or seasonal?
It appears cable has been picking up about twice what the telcos have be losing but that rate may be slowing and new acquisitions also seem to be tapering off.

Also also any numbers on TOTAL FTTHOME nationwide at this point? maybe 6 million or so?
83952740 (banned)
join:2017-08-07

2 recommendations

83952740 (banned)

Member

No choice for most for HSI!

quote:
Cable operators continue to absolutely dominate the US broadband industry, adding 84% of all net new subscribers during the second quarter
Because for many they have NO CHOICE! I am lucky to have a choice, fiber or one of the scum MSO's. A few miles to either way. NO CHOICE! Its the scum MSO or VSAT. A few miles south and its dial up, cellular or VSAT, Period. I am not even sure any one offers a local call V.90/92 dial up in the area even! ISDN was EOL'd a few years ago, and they won't install new, and those have can't move it, or anything or they loose it! One circuit I know of feeds a local government agency that has an office way out in the sticks. They could setup a microwave link to their network, but don't want to spend $$ for it.

This is the FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM with internet deployment in the US! It needs to be treated akin to the old Rural Electric programs of the 1930's. While I am vehemently opposed to the guberment getting bigger and more involved in things. There comes a time when private industry doesn't step up to the plate, the guberment needs to step in. With a big hammer.

Internet speeds and deployment in the US LAGS by laughably large margins to most major western nations! PATHETIC!

Save the tired tripe response about population density, etc. BS!

This country has HUGE INFRASTRUCTURE problems and internet service is one of them!

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

2 recommendations

DaveDude

Member

Verizon Fios , its a joke

Verizon was ordered to deploy in all of NJ, only the ultra populated areas got it. Even wealthy suburbs dont have it.