Broadband Additions Slow Down for Top Cable, Telephone Companies

Leichtman Research Group (LRG) found that the eighteen largest cable and telephone providers in the United States – representing about 93 percent of the market – acquired about 350,000 net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in the second quarter of 2011. Net broadband additions in the quarter were the second fewest of any quarter in the ten years LRG has been tracking the industry.
 
Other broadband findings for the quarter include:

• Overall, broadband additions in 2Q11 amounted to 108 percent of those in 2Q10;
• The top cable companies accounted for 77 percent of the net broadband additions for the quarter versus the top telephone companies;
• The top phone companies added about 80,000 subscribers during the quarter, compared to a net loss of 10,000 subscribers in 2Q10;
• AT&T and Verizon added 628,000 fiber subscribers in the quarter (via U-verse and FiOS), while having a net loss of 578,000 DSL subscribers;
• The top cable companies added over 270,000 broadband subscribers in the quarter, about 81 percent of the additions during the same quarter of a year ago;
• The top cable broadband providers have a 56 percent share of the overall market, with 8.9 million more subscribers than the top telephone companies, compared to 7.85 million this time a year ago.

"The second quarter is traditionally the slowest of the year for industry growth. Net broadband additions in 2Q11 were over 900,000 less than in 1Q11, but slightly higher than last year’s second quarter," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, in a statement. "Over the past year, the top broadband providers have added 3.3 million subscribers, about 91 percent of the net additions over the prior year."