Cable Companies Are Absolutely Dominating the Broadband Market Cable providers continue to absolutely dominate the broadband market, according to the latest data from Leichtman Research. According to the latest Leichtman study of last quarter's industry earnings reports, there were 625,000 net broadband additions last quarter. Of that total, about 99% of them were gobbled up by cable providers. Cable companies added a net of 775,000 broadband subscribers last quarter, compared to a net loss of 150,000 broadband subscribers during the same period.

The biggest reason for this shift? DSL Providers refuse to upgrade huge swaths of their networks. As a result most of their customers can't even technically buy "broadband" that meets the FCC's 25 Mbps definition of the word. Phone companies simply don't think that bothering to upgrade copper DSL users to fiber is worth it. As a result they're engaging in very selective upgrades in some areas (mostly housing developments), but shifting overall attentions to areas where they see higher growth and a better return on their investment. For example Verizon bought AOL and Yahoo to try and be the new Google (it's not working). AT&T bought Time Warner to try and dominate content. CenturyLink and Windstream bought Level 3 and Earthlink, respectively, to focus more seriously on the enterprise market. Billions are being spent on alternative interests instead of uniformly upgrading networks serving tens of millions of telco customers. The one-two punch of disinterested telcos and a potential shift to more industry-friendly regulators is going to be a windfall for cable providers. They'll face less competitive pressure than ever before to lower prices and improve customer service, without regulatory pressure to behave in the absence of said competition. Less competition and no regulatory pressure also means cable companies can impose completely unnecessary usage caps and overage fees to hinder streaming competitors without repercussion. "While major providers now account for nearly 92.5 million broadband subscribers in the US, the broadband market continues to expand with top cable providers driving the growth," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. "Over the past year, cable companies added more than 3.5 million broadband subscribers, accounting for 118% of the 2.995 million net broadband additions." You can check out the full Leichtman report You can check out the full Leichtman report here







News Jump WISPs Get CBRS Range As Great As Six Miles At 100 Mbps Speeds; Windstream Officially Exits Bankruptcy; + more news Charter Relaunches Free 60-day Internet And Wi-Fi Offer; NCTA: FCC Should Stick With 25/3 Speed Threshold; + more news Comcast Shuts Off Internet for Subs Who Were Sold Service Illegally; AT&T, Verizon Team To Stop T-Mobile 5G; + more news California Defends Its Net Neutrality Law; AT&T's Traffic Up 20% Despite Data Traffic Actually Being Down; + more news Are The Comcast-Charter X1 Talks Dead In The Water?; AT&T May Offer Phone Plans With Ads For Discounts; + more news Europe's Top Court: Net Neutrality Rules Bar Zero Rating; ViacomCBS To Rebrand CBS All Access As Paramount+; + more news Verizon To Buy Reseller TracFone For $7B; 5G Not The Competitive Threat To Cable Many Thought It Would Be; + more news MS.Wants Records From AT&T On $300M Project; Google Fiber Outages In Austin, Houston, Other Texan Cities; + more news States With The Biggest Decreases In Speed; AT&T Hopes You'll Forget Its Fight Against Accurate Maps; + more news AT&T's CEO Has A Familiar $olution To US Broadband Woes; EarthLink Files Suit Against Charter; + more news ---------------------- this week last week most discussed

Most recommended from 23 comments



camper

just visiting this planet

Premium Member

join:2010-03-21

Bethel, CT 11 recommendations camper Premium Member If the phones comapnies advertise their ISP service like this... What are the benefits of FairPoint High-Speed Internet?



With the dedicated service of our High-Speed Internet, you'll never get a busy signal trying to get on the Internet. With a click of the mouse, you are instantly connected. High-speed Internet eliminated the problem of logging off the Internet just to use the telephone. You now have the ability to use the phone at the same time. And best of all, you are surfing the web at lightning speed. That's the entire justification for using their HSI. It's like they are stuck in the late-90's world of dial-up computing. It's no surprise they are losing the broadband competition. From the phone company's website that serves my parent's house:That's the entire justification for using their HSI. It's like they are stuck in the late-90's world of dial-up computing. It's no surprise they are losing the broadband competition.

Nexus7

join:2010-07-14

Waterloo, IA 10 recommendations Nexus7 Member Tortoise or the Hare? 1.5 Mbps DSL or 150 Mbps cable. Decisions, decisions.

srtdodge05

Premium Member

join:2011-10-16

Ypsilanti, MI 9 recommendations srtdodge05 Premium Member Like we didn't already know this. Already knew this.

DaveDude

No Fear

join:1999-09-01

New Jersey 7 recommendations DaveDude Member FIOS LOL That like Verizon promising to wire a whole state, then do nothing. Oh wait

Frank

Premium Member

join:2000-11-03

somewhere 3 recommendations Frank Premium Member Alot of Telcos dont compete. Im currently in a centurylink area. Huge majority of the area is stuck with slow overpriced dsl that almost nobody uses because its slow and overpriced compared to the local cable company offerings. Based upon what Ive seen.......most people have no idea a local telco even exists.

This is a sharp contrast to what I saw when I lived in a Verizon FIOS area where there would be multiple apartment buildings with signs and banners using the fact that they had FIOS available as a selling point and everybody knew what the local telco was.