Representing about 93 percent of the market, the seven largest U.S. cable companies and telcos added nearly 385,000 new high-speed Internet subscribers on a net basis in 2Q 2014. High-speed Internet subscriber rolls among the seven now total more than 85.9 million, according to the latest market data from Leichtman Research Group (LRG).
As of end-2Q, broadband subscriber additions among the largest U.S. cable companies and telcos were 130 percent higher than they were in 2013’s second quarter. High-speed Internet subscriber rolls among the top U.S. cable companies amounted to nearly 50.7 million, while that for the top telco providers numbered over 35.2 million.
“With the addition of more than 30 million broadband subscribers over the past decade, cable providers have clearly expanded well beyond their roots in cable TV service,” Bruce Leichtman, LRG president and principal analyst, was quoted in a press release. “As of the end of 2Q 2014, the top cable providers now have more broadband subscribers than cable TV subscribers.”
Cable Broadband Subscribers
Other key takeaways from LRG’s latest market data release include:
- The top cable companies accounted for 99% of the net broadband additions for the quarter versus the top telephone companies;
- The top cable companies added about 380,000 subscribers, representing 128% of the net additions for the top cable companies in 2Q 2013;
- For the top cable providers (not including overbuilder WOW), the number of broadband subscribers exceeded the number of cable TV subscribers for the first time ever — with about 49,915,000 broadband subscribers at the end of 2Q 2014, compared to about 49,910,000 cable TV subscribers;
- The top telephone companies added about 2,000 broadband subscribers in 2Q 2014 — compared to a loss of about 2,000 in 2Q 2013;
- AT&T and Verizon added 627,000 subscribers via U-verse and FiOS in 2Q 2014, while having a net loss of 636,000 DSL subscribers;
- The top cable broadband providers have a 59% share of the market versus the top telcos.
