Leichtman: 1.3 Million Add Broadband in Q3

Cable Claims 870,000 Of The New High-Speed Subs

By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 11/17/2008 8:55:00 AM

The 20 largest U.S. cable and telephone providers, representing about 94% of the market, acquired about 1.3 million high-speed Internet subscribers in the third quarter, according to a survey by Leichtman Research Group.

These top broadband providers now account for nearly 66.7 million subscribers, with cable companies having 36.5 million broadband subscribers and telephone companies having about 30.2 million subscribers.

Other broadband findings for the quarter include:

The top cable companies added more than 870,000 subscribers, representing 67% of the net broadband additions for the quarter versus the top telephone companies

Overall, broadband additions in the third quarter amounted to 61% of those in the same quarter last year, with cable having 82% as many additions as a year ago and telcos 40%

The top cable broadband providers have a 55% share of the overall market, with a 6.3 million subscriber advantage over the top telephone companies

“Over the past two quarters the top cable providers accounted for 71% of the net broadband additions, adding over 900,000 more broadband subscribers than the top telcos,” Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research, said in a statement. 

“Cable’s recent success compared to the telcos should not necessarily be interpreted as consumers suddenly choosing cable’s speed advantage over that of the telcos’ DSL service," he continued. "It is more a function of the telcos’ shift in focus towards higher value subscribers, while cable has been consistent in marketing broadband as part of its nearly ubiquitously available triple play bundles.”