Broadband Growth Slows, 59% Of Households Wired

fiber opticsWith nearly 68 million U.S. homes now with broadband, growth in subscribers in 2008 was the slowest in seven years, according to the Leichtman Research Group. Using that figure and Nielsen's number of TV homes, 59% of American households are now wired with broadband.

Some 5.4 million homes added the service last year, compared to 8.5 million in 2007 and the peak of 10.4 million in 2006.

Bruce Leichtman, the head of the research group, said "with increased market penetration, growth inevitably had to slow."

Cable companies in the aggregate outpace telephone companies in customers, with some 36.9 million and 30.7 million subscribers, respectively.

Even as cable companies together have more broadband homes, AT&T leads all providers with 15.1 million, followed by Comcast at 14.9. Comcast added more last year, with 1.3 million versus AT&T's 929,000.

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