Nearly 1.2 Million Added Broadband in the First Quarter of 2015

Leichtman Research Group, Inc (LRG) found that the seventeen largest cable and telephone providers in the US -- representing about 94 percent of the market -- acquired nearly 1.2 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in the first quarter of 2015. These top broadband providers now account for over 88.5 million subscribers -- with top cable companies having about 53 million broadband subscribers, and top telephone companies having over 35.5 million subscribers. Other broadband findings for the quarter include:

• Overall, broadband additions in 1Q 2015 were similar to those in 1Q 2014
• The top cable companies accounted for 86 percent of the net broadband additions for the quarter versus the top telephone companies
• The top cable companies added over 1,000,000 broadband subscribers in 1Q 2015, representing 104 percent of the net additions for the top cable companies in 1Q 2014
• The top telephone companies added about 160,000 subscribers, 81 percent of the total net additions for the top telephone companies in 1Q 2014
• AT&T and Verizon added 573,000 subscribers via U-verse and FiOS in 1Q 2015, while having a net loss of 463,000 DSL subscribers. U-verse and FiOS broadband subscribers now account for 54 percent of Telco broadband subscribers -- compared to 40 percent two years ago
• The top cable broadband providers now have a 60% share of the market versus Telcos for the first time since 2Q 2005
• Over the past year, there were about 3,000,000 net broadband adds -- compared to about 2,700,000 over the prior year