Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that the fourteen largest cable and telephone providers in the US – representing about 95 per cent of the market – acquired about 625,000 net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in Q3 2016. These top broadband providers now account for 92.5 million subscribers — with top cable companies having 57.8 million broadband subscribers, and top phone companies having 34.7 million subscribers.

Other broadband findings for the quarter include:

• Overall, broadband additions in Q3 2016 were 99 per cent of those in Q3 2015
• The top cable companies added about 775,000 subscribers in Q3 2016 – 99 per cent of the net additions for the top cable companies in Q3 2015
• The top phone companies lost about 150,000 broadband subscribers in Q3 2016, similar to the loss of about 145,000 in Q3 2015
• Telco providers have had net broadband losses in five of the past six quarters
• In the first three quarters of 2016, cable companies added about 2,440,000 broadband subscribers, while telcos lost about 475,000 subscribers

“While major providers now account for nearly 92.5 million broadband subscribers in the US, the broadband market continues to expand with top cable providers driving the growth,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for LRG. “Over the past year, cable companies added more than 3.5 million broadband subscribers, accounting for 118 per cent of the 2.995 million net broadband additions.”

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