• September 4, 2001

According to a recently published Report, "Cable Modem Providers Continue to Lead the High-Speed Internet Charge: The Yankee Group's Predictions on Consumer Broadband Services," cable will continue to dominate the U.S. residential broadband market over the next four years.

Cable operators are uniquely placed to drive broadband penetration, resulting from greater availability, lower prices, and quicker provisioning. Competing technologies such as satellite and fixed wireless, however, will slowly gain market share.

Yankee says that by year-end 2005, approximately 15.7 million households in the U.S. will subscribe to cable modem service. In comparison, DSL will grow to 10.5 million households; satellite - to 4.5 million households; and multichannel multipoint distribution system (MMDS)-based and other fixed wireless access to approximately 359,000 households.

Among the factors outlined in the Report as having an impact on the growth of high-speed access are the widespread availability of broadband cable to U.S. homes, continued slow DSL provisioning times, tiered pricing, and bundled content packages, in addition to bundled voice, video, and data packages offered by satellite and other providers. The Report points out that as service and price packages are standardized across multiple platforms, the type of broadband access will become secondary to the value-added services and content that the provider offers its customers.

The study incorporates research conducted by analysts from the Yankee Group's Consumer Market Convergence, Internet Market Strategies, Media & Entertainment Strategies, and E-Networks & Broadband Access research and consulting practices.