U.S. broadband is still growing in terms of subscriber numbers, but that growth is down slightly from last year. According to the Leichtman Research Group, the 14 largest cable and telephone providers in the United States - representing about 95% of the market - acquired about 2.7 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in 2016. Annual net broadband additions in 2016 were 87% of the 3.1 million net adds in 2015.
The top broadband providers now account for nearly 92.9 million subscribers, with top cable companies having about 58.4 million broadband subscribers and top telephone companies having 34.5 million subscribers.
Other findings indicate:
- The top cable companies netted 122% of the broadband additions in 2016, compared to 106% in 2015, and 89% in 2014. The top cable companies added 3.3 million broadband subscribers in 2016, similar to the gains in 2015 and the most net adds in any year since 2007.
- The top telephone companies lost about 600,000 subscribers in 2016, compared to a loss of about 185,000 subscribers in 2015.
- In 4Q 2016, the top broadband providers added about 735,000 subscribers, compared to about 1,030,000 in 4Q 2015. The top cable companies added about 855,000 subscribers in 4Q 2016, while telcos lost about 120,000.
"The top cable and telco broadband providers in the U.S. cumulatively now account for nearly 92.9 million subscribers in the U.S., and the industry continues to grow," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for LRG. "The top broadband providers added nearly 5.8 million net broadband subscribers over the past two years, with cable companies accounting for about 6.6 million net adds."
