According to Leichtman Research Group, the 17 largest cable and telephone providers in the U.S. — representing about 95 percent of the market — acquired nearly 1.1 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in Q1 2016. These providers now account for over 91.5 million subscribers — with top cable companies boasting 56.3 million broadband subscribers, and top phone companies accounting for 35.2 million subscribers, according to LRG.
The research firm reports that overall, broadband additions in Q1 2016 were 92 percent of those in 1Q 2015. It also says that the top cable companies accounted for 99 percent of the net broadband additions for the quarter vs. the top phone companies.
The top cable companies added about 1,065,000 broadband subscribers in Q1 2016 — 106 percent of the net additions for the top cable companies in Q1 2015, according to the research. In contrast, it shows the top phone companies added about 10,000 broadband subscribers in Q1 2016 — compared to a gain of 160,000 in Q1 2015. AT&T and Verizon reportedly added 300,000 subscribers via U-verse and FiOS in Q1 2016, while having a net loss of 324,000 DSL subscribers.
“Cable companies had another strong quarter for broadband in 1Q 2016, adding over one million subscribers in the quarter. This marks the third time in the past five quarters that cable companies have added over a million net broadband subscribers,” Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for LRG, notes. “Broadband in the U.S. continues to grow, with cable providers accounting for 111 percent of the three million net broadband additions over the past year.”