Having added a net 4.1 million new subscribers in 2009, the country’s largest cable and telephone companies ended the year with nearly 71.8 million high-speed Internet subscribers, about 93% of the U.S. market, according to a Leichtman Research Group report released today.
Net broadband additions for 2009 amounted to 75% of 2008’s. Cable co’s accounted for 39.3 million of the total 71.8 million broadband subscribers in the U.S., telcos 32.5 million. The top cable co’s added more than 2.3 broadband subscribers in 2009–73% of total net adds in 2008. The top telco providers added more than 1.7 million–78% of last year’s total net additions. Fourth quarter net broadband adds totaled 890,000–cable companies added about 580,000 and telcos added about 310,000.
Comcast far and away added the most subscribers on a net basis in 2009–1.001 million. The country’s second-largest cable company, Time Warner, added 562,000 subscribers on a net basis for the year. Cox, the third-largest, added a net 200,000.
Among telcos, industry leader AT&T added a net 712,000 broadband subscribers in 2009. Number two Verizon added a net 547,000 and number three Qwest added a net 127,000.
“Broadband is one of the fastest adopted products or services in U.S. history, and it has now settled into a more mature stage of development,” president and principal analyst Bruce Leichtman commented.
