• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, June 4, 2018

Broadband 1 0604  

800,000 Subscribers Get Broadband from Top Providers

Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that the largest cable and telephone providers in the U.S., representing about 95% of the market, acquired about 800,000 net additional broadband Internet subscribers in 1Q 2018. 

These top broadband providers now account for 96.5 million subscribers, with top cable companies having 62.2 million broadband subscribers, and top telephone companies having 34.3 million subscribers, says the report. 

Findings for the quarter include: 

• Overall, broadband additions in 1Q 2018 were 83% of the 965,000 net adds in 1Q 2017
• The top cable companies added about 845,000 subscribers in 1Q 2018 – 84% of the net adds for the top cable companies in 1Q 2017
• The top telephone companies lost about 45,000 subscribers in 1Q 2018 – similar to the net losses in 1Q 2017

Telcos have had combined net broadband losses in each of the past eight quarters.

At the end 1Q 2018, cable had a 64% market share vs. 36% for Telcos, compared to 61% for cable vs. 39% for Telcos at the end of 1Q 2016.

Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, says that “With the addition of 800,000 subscribers in the quarter, top broadband providers in the U.S. cumulatively now account for about 96.5 million subscribers. Over the past year, there were about 1,950,000 net broadband adds, compared to about 2,550,000 net adds over the prior year.”

Net additions reflect pro forma results from system sales and acquisitions, and reporting adjustments -- therefore, comparing totals in this release to prior releases may not produce accurate findings,  Leichtman Research Group, Inc.