Research: US MSOs control 70% of fixed broadband
March 4, 2021
The eight top US MSOs collectively added 4.8 million fixed broadband customers in 2020 and now control approximately 69 per cent of the US fixed internet market.
Leichtman Research Group says the 4.86 million total fixed broadband customers added last year by the 16 largest providers, accounting for 96 per cent of the US market, was the most since 2008.
Telcos, focussed on fixed 5G services, collectively added only 39,535 customers to the total.
Helped by the lockdowns, Charter Communications alone added 2.215 million customers in 2020, followed by Comcast, which added 1.971 million broadband subscribers.
Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, said he can’t remember a time when cable’s share of the market was bigger.
“With the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, there were more net broadband additions in 2020 than in any year since 2008,” he said. “The top cable and telco broadband providers in the US cumulatively added about 4,860,000 subscribers in 2020, compared to about 5,100,000 subscribers in 2018 and 2019 combined.”