Over the past 12 months, U.S. broadband subscriptions have grown by three million. According to Strategy Analytics, Comcast and Time Warner Cable together accounted for a whopping 71 percent of that total.
A good chunk of that total came during the third quarter, when Strategy Analytics says the cable industry added 804,000 new broadband subscribers—with Comcast and TWC accounting for 552,000 new subscribers.
Strategy Analytics’ total for new cable broadband subscribers is close to Leichtman Research’s estimates. And both firms agree that DSL losses and slower growth in fiber subscriptions at AT&T and FiOS served as a major offset for overall broadband growth in the U.S. during the third quarter.
Along with broadband subscriber numbers, average broadband ARPU is on the way up, which is good news as MSOs work to fill in the financial gaps left by the steady exodus of traditional pay-TV subscribers.
According to Strategy Analytics, broadband ARPU during the third quarter has risen between two percent and seven percent across cable and telcos.
“Cable operators continue to increase market share in US broadband,” Jason Blackwell, Director of the Service Provider Strategies service (SPS) at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement. “Over the past twelve months, Comcast has accounted for 42 percent of new subscribers among the operators that we track. Fiber growth is still strong, but the Telco operators haven’t been able to shake off the losses of DSL subscribers. In 2016, we expect to see a real battle in broadband, as cable operators begin to roll out DOCSIS 3.1 for even higher speed offers, placing additional pressure on Telcos.”