Cable broadband market share is seeing substantial gains in the U.S. market, according to Strategy Analytics. Cable broadband subscriber adds were 3.3 million new subscribers in the 12 months from April 2015, researchers said.
Cable broadband market share growth is helping drive overall U.S. fixed broadband growth. Total fixed broadband household penetration approached 80 percent, while cable providers’ share of subscriptions rose to more than 62 percent, according to the latest Strategy Analytics Service Provider Strategies service report.
In comparison fiber broadband connections to homes held steady at 23 percent of the total, while DSL’s market share dropped to 15 percent over the the 12-month period through end March.
Overall broadband subscriber growth was 1 million over the past year, as some companies lost subscribers.
Cable Broadband Market Share
The top two telco broadband providers didn’t fare well with regard to broadband subscriber numbers over the past year, according to Strategy Analytics. AT&T added only 5,000 subscribers and Verizon lost 10,000, researchers said.
¨During 2015, Comcast accounted for 44% of new subscribers and the companies forming the New Charter made up another 47% of new subscribers.” said Jason Blackwell, director of Strategy Analytics’ Service Provider Strategies Service. “The Telco operators haven’t been able to shake off the losses of DSL subscribers, but we expect to see increased fiber deployments in the coming quarters, which should help AT&T and Verizon return to growth.”
Mobile broadband connections have been expanding at much faster rates than fixed connections, researchers noted. Mobile isn’t replacing fixed broadband household connections, at least not yet, but WiFi plays an important role in strategic plans across the spectrum of broadband service providers, Strategy Analytics points out.
Charter is aiming to deploy 300,000 more WiFi hotspots as part of its strategic mobility strategy as a condition of its pending merger with Time Warner and Bright House Networks, for example.
“Wi-Fi will allow cable operators to more effectively compete for quad-play customers without the expense of creating and managing a mobile network,¨ Blackwell commented. ¨Combined with MVNO relationships, Wi-Fi can create a compelling service offer, making the cable companies more competitive with the traditional mobile operators.”
“The reality is fixed broadband is continuing to grow in the US, and not being replaced by mobile broadband as some have reported,” he added. “The cable operators are driving the growth with increased speeds and multiplay bundles.
