Commentary

Phone Companies Grabbed Most of New Broadband Subscribers Last Quarter

Phone Companies Grabbed Most of New Broadband Subscribers Last Quarter

According to a new study by Leichtman Research Group, the nineteen largest cable and telephone providers in the US, representing about 94% of the market acquired over 1.7 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in the second quarter of 2007. The top broadband providers now account for nearly 58 million subscribers, with cable companies having 31.5 million, and telephone companies over 26.4 million.

Additional key findings for the quarter include:

  • Total broadband additions were the fewest since the second quarter of 2004, and about 400,000 less than in the second quarter of last year
  • Charter was the only major broadband provider to record significantly more net broadband additions in the second quarter than a year ago 
  • The top telephone companies added about 925,000 subscribers, representing 54% of the net broadband additions for the quarter
  • The top cable broadband providers have a 54% share of the broadband market, with about a 5.1 million subscriber advantage over the telephone companies

Broadband Internet Subscribers Through June, 2007

 

Subscribers at end of 2Q 2007

Net Adds in 2Q 2007 

Cable Companies

Comcast

12,380,000

330,000

Time Warner

7,188,000

188,000

Cox*

3,545,000

60,000

Charter

2,583,200

60,300

Cablevision

2,168,000

50,000

Insight

 674,900

18,900

Mediacom

613,000

13,000

Cable One

316,357

8,268

RCN

270,000

5,000

Other major private cable companies

1,780,000

60,000

Total Top Cable

31,518,457

793,468

 

Telephone Companies

AT&T

13,253,000

398,000

Verizon

7,686,000

288,000 

Qwest

2,405,000

100,000

Embarq

1,156,000

52,000

Windstream

752,600

37,200

CenturyTel

500,000

30,000

Citizens

479,317

15,262

Cincinnati Bell

211,800

4,200

Total Top Telephone Companies

26,443,717

924,662

 

Total Broadband

57,962,174

1,718,130

Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc.

Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc., said "While net broadband additions may be beginning to wane slightly, tens of millions of consumers will add high-speed Internet over the next few years.... "

For more information about LRG, please go here.

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