• by Wayne Friedman , June 26, 2020

Unbundled, stand-alone broadband service -- not packaged with mobile, pay TV or other services -- continues to rise, now at 42% as of the first quarter of this year, according to a study by Parks Associates.

This is up from 34% three years ago. 

Year-over-year -- first-quarter 2019 to first-quarter 2020 -- more than 6 million U.S. broadband households dropped their traditional pay-TV service
-- moving mostly to over-the-top digital video services or to accessing broadcast TV by digital antenna.

Looking more widely, 76% of all U.S. broadband households subscribed to an over-the-top service provider in the first quarter of 2020.

In addition, research shows that the average price for broadband in third-quarter 2019 was up 36% over seven years to $60 per month. Over that period, the monthly payment for TV and broadband services grew to $127/ month from $107/month.

Parks also notes that with U.S. broadband adoption plateauing, providers need to add “value-added services” to boost their appeal.

Nearly one-half of U.S. broadband households receive at least one value-added service (VAS) from their service provider -- and many of these are included at no additional cost. This can include antivirus, streaming video, and Wi-Fi services. 

The survey methodology came from 10,000 broadband homes in the third quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.

Survey results are demographically representative. Demographic data was set for age, gender, household income and education

This story has been updated.