Broadband Subscriber Growth Dwindles to Trickle in 2Q
High-Speed Internet Subscribers Rose But Not As Sharply As Quarters Past
By Larry Barrett -- Multichannel News, 8/11/2008 10:53:00 AM
Cable and telephone providers acquired another 887,000 high-speed Internet subscribers in the second quarter bringing their total to more than 65.1 million customers. However, the number of new subscribers was the fewest in more than seven years and down almost 50% from the year-ago quarter, according to market researcher Leichtman Research Group.
Of the 887,000 new subscribers, cable companies accounted for more than 670,000 accounts, or 76% of the quarter’s new additions. Overall, the number of new broadband customers was almost halved compared to the number of new users added in the year-ago quarter.
“Net broadband additions in the quarter were the fewest of any quarter in the seven years LRG has been tracking the industry,” Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, said in a statement. “While the relative number of quarterly broadband adds has certainly peaked, the decline in additions this quarter compared to the same period last year was exacerbated by Verizon and AT&T’s emphasis on selling higher speed FiOS and U-verse bundled services, often at the expense of the traditional DSL service.”
According to Leichtman, top cable broadband providers have a 54% share of the overall market, with a 5.6 million subscriber advantage over the top telephone companies
