Research: 3.5m US broadband adds in 2022
March 3, 2023
Findings from Leichtman Research Group indicate that the largest cable and wireline phone providers and fixed wireless services in the US – representing about 95 per cent of the market – acquired about 3,500,000 net additional broadband subscribers in 2022, compared to a pro forma gain of about 3,725,000 subscribers in 2021.
These top broadband providers account for about 110.5 million subscribers, with top cable companies having 75.6 million broadband subscribers, top wireline phone companies having 30.8 million subscribers, and top fixed wireless services having 4.1 million subscribers.
Findings for the year include:
- Overall, broadband additions in 2022 were 94 per cent of those in 2021
- The top cable companies added about 515,000 subscribers in 2022 – compared to about 2.8 million net adds in 2021
- The top wireline phone companies lost about 180,000 total broadband subscribers in 2022 – compared to about 210,000 net adds in 2021
- Wireline Telcos had about 2.4 million net adds via fibre in 2022, offset by about 2.6 million non-fibre net losses
- Fixed wireless/5G home Internet services from T-Mobile and Verizon added about 3,170,000 subscribers in 2022 – compared to about 730,000 net adds in 2021
“Top broadband providers added about 3.5 million subscribers in 2022. Fixed wireless services accounted for 90 per cent of the net broadband additions in 2022, compared to 20 per cent of the net adds in 2021,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. “Total broadband net adds in 2022 were slightly lower than last year, and down from about 5 million in 2020, but were more than in any year from 2012-2019.”
| Broadband Providers | Subscribers at end of 2022 | Net Adds in 2022 |
| Cable Companies | ||
| Comcast | 32,151,000 | 250,000 |
| Charter | 30,433,000 | 344,000 |
| Cox* | 5,560,000 | 30,000 |
| Altice | 4,282,900 | (103,300) |
| Mediacom* | 1,468,000 | 5,000 |
| Cable One** | 1,060,400 | 14,400 |
| Breezeline** | 693,781 | (22,997) |
| Total Top Cable | 75,649,081 | 517,103 |
| Wireline Phone Companies | ||
| AT&T | 15,386,000 | (118,000) |
| Verizon | 7,484,000 | 119,000 |
| Lumen^ | 3,037,000 | (253,000) |
| Frontier | 2,839,000 | 40,000 |
| Windstream* | 1,175,000 | 10,300 |
| TDS | 510,000 | 19,700 |
| Consolidated** | 367,458 | 724 |
| Total Top Wireline Phone | 30,798,458 | (181,276) |
| Fixed Wireless Services | ||
| T-Mobile | 2,646,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Verizon | 1,452,000 | 1,171,000 |
| Total Top Fixed Wireless | 4,098,000 | 3,171,000 |
| Total Top Broadband | 110,545,539 | 3,506,827 |
Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc.
* LRG estimate
** Includes LRG estimate of pro forma net adds
^ Includes the impact of a divestiture completed in October 2022
TDS residential subscribers, includes 305,200 wireline subscribers and 204,800 cable subscribers
Company subscriber counts may not solely represent residential households – about 6.5 per cent of the total are non-residential
Top broadband providers represent approximately 95 per cent of all subscribers
Net additions reflect pro forma results from system sales and acquisitions, reporting adjustments, and the addition of new providers to the list – therefore, comparing totals in this release to prior releases will not produce accurate findings