Mike Farrell

Home Networks Are the New Industry Battleground

While the telecommunications industry has spent the past few decades touting the ever-increasing bandwidth of their various broadband products, a panel of top cable experts said that consumers are increasingly looking to how those services perform as they continue to pile devices and applications onto their networks. Users are becoming more concerned with how their different applications and services interact with their broadband network, Charter's Justin Colwell said. Home networks are getting more sophisticated as they increasingly have to handle more and more devices per home.

Fixed Wireless Is Having Its Day, But Fiber Is the Real Competition

Comcast Executive Vice President and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong said the biggest threat to the cable business is coming from fiber, not just from fixed wireless access (FWA). While there have been several factors attributed to the accelerated slowdown in cable broadband growth -- sluggish new home formation, minimal housing moves, and the transition to a new federally subsidized program for low-income families -- competition from both fixed wireless and, especially, fiber-based broadband providers have emerged as significant players.

Charter Says Fixed Wireless Was a Factor in Q2 Broadband Subscriber Declines

Charter Communications Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer tacitly acknowledged the impact of fixed wireless access (FWA) competition on broadband subscriber growth. FWA technology was one of four factors that led to the cable operator’s first-ever broadband customer loss in Q2. Charter lost about 21,000 broadband customers in the second quarter, one of several cable operators that experienced declines in that segment after months of slow growth. Fischer said Q2 performance was impacted by four factors: sluggish new home growth, seasonality, fixed wireless competition, and fiber overbui

Cable One Misses Second Quarter 2022 Broadband Targets as More Fixed Wireless Competition Looms

Cable One added 1,300 residential broadband customers in second quarter 2022, soundly missing analysts’ consensus estimates of 5,200 additions.

Greg Walden Gives Advice on How To Win Broadband Funding

Former House Commerce Committee Chairman Freg Walden (R-OR) has a simple answer for small cable operators that are hard pressed to know how to navigate the bureaucratic quagmire to broadband finding: get to know the decisionmakers. He said that to win those funds, small operators are going to have to learn how their state government machinery works. “[E]ach state is going to be a little different, some will be better staffed and ready for this money,” Walden said.

Analysts See Cable’s Broadband Growth Slipping as Wireless Momentum Continues

MoffettNathanson joined the recent chorus of a steeper-than-anticipated slowdown in broadband subscriber growth for the second quarter of 2022, expecting large operators like Comcast and Charter Communications to report less than half the customer gains they did in the first quarter, while wireless customer additions are anticipated to maintain their recent upward momentum. After its purchase by SVB Financial Group, MoffettNathanson was required to reinitiate its coverage of the sector, and on July 12 it did just that.

Charter Commits Another $1 Million to Spectrum Digital Education Initiative

Charter Communications said that it will commit an additional $1 million to its 2022 Spectrum Digital Education grant initiative, boosting the total amount invested in the six-year program to $8 million. Charter launched Spectrum Digital Education in 2017, and through February 2022 the company said grants and in-kind contributions have helped 99 nonprofit organizations and more than 95,000 people in 22 states and Washington (DC).

Fixed Wireless Could Add 10 Million Subscribers by 2027

Fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband could add more than 10 million subscribers in the next five years, driven by programs geared toward rural markets, according to Wells Fargo telecom and media analysts Eric Luebchow and Steven Cahall. The analysts predict that total broadband subscriber additions will accelerate to 4.5-to-5 million annually in 2023 and 2024, fueled mainly by FWA and fiber overbuilds. Over the next five years, Luebchow and Cahall predict FWA will rise from 7.1 million total subscribers at the end of 2021 to 17.6 million in 2027.

Comcast To Spend $32.6 Million To Expand Fiber Network in Oregon, Utah

Comcast said that it will spend nearly $33 million to extend its fiber network in two communities in Oregon and Utah, a move that is expected to bring about 23,000 additional homes and businesses under the Xfinity service umbrella. In Utah, Comcast said it will expand service to more than 18,000 homes and businesses in Eagle Mountain City (UT) over the next four years. The cost of the project will be about $22 million and will not use any public funds.

How Long Can the Fiber Boom Last?

With practically every telecom and cable company moving to step up their fiber buildout plans over the next few years, MoffettNathanson senior analyst Craig Moffett wonders if the recent acceleration in construction was indeed too much, and whether telecom and cable companies will be able to justify the cost.

Cox Moves to Overturn $1 Billion Music Suit

Lawyers for Cox Communications will begin oral arguments on March 9 in the appeal of a $1 billion copyright infringement award that it says is not only wrong on a legal basis, but could upend the entire broadband industry if it is allowed to stay.

Comcast Chief Brian Roberts Sees Little Threat from Fixed Wireless

Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said that despite slowdowns in broadband growth, he sees little threat to the business from new competitors like fixed wireless, adding that rural expansion, offering a competitive product and bundling with mobile should help subscriber additions continue to rise. Roberts said he sees four areas where the company can boost broadband growth: expanding its footprint, competing more aggressively, bundling with other products like wireless and growing its business services reach.

Charter's Digital Platforms Chief Discusses the Company's Digital Strategy and Spectrum TV App

As executive VP of digital platforms at Charter Communications, Jodi Robinson is the go-to digital chieftain at the cable company, leading its video product management, customer self-service platforms, internal design agency and its data platforms organization. A graduate of Stanford University, Robinson joined Charter in 2014 as senior Vice President. She has led its digital platforms organization since 2019 and its user experience design and development organization since joining the company.

Get Ready for an Even Slower Broadband Slowdown

The slowdown in cable broadband subscriber additions may be even slower than anticipated after executives at two of the top three publicly traded cable companies -- Comcast and Altice USA -- hinted that customer growth is trending at an even more decelerated pace than expected. Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson said he expected to end 2021 with 1.3 million additional broadband subscribers.

Charter CEO Says Cable Mobile Service Pricing Could Drop Further

Just weeks after Charter Communications slashed prices for its Spectrum Mobile offering to $29.99 per month, chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said charges for wireless cable offerings could drop further as the cost to provide service continues to decline. “I think the mobile opportunity is very similar to the wireline opportunity that existed 15 years ago,” Rutledge said. “[Mobile]'s got its own complexities, but the opportunity is there to create value for consumers. Consumers actually save money and we make money. That’s a pretty attractive business model that is available to us.

Cable One Buys Cable America Missouri for $113 Million

Cable One has purchased Cable America Missouri, a small broadband and cable operator with about 14,000 customers in rural areas in the central part of the state, for about $113 million in cash. Cable One CEO Julie Laulis said the Cable America properties are close to markets the company purchased in 2019 with its buy of Fidelity Communications. “Due to its adjacency to our Fidelity markets as well as alignment with culture, growth and competitive profile, we expect Cable America to be an excellent fit to our growing family of brands,” Laulis said.

The broadband apocalypse is not near

Charter Communications’ dismal Q3 broadband subscriber performance — it missed analysts’ consensus growth estimates by nearly 30 percent — may seem like the harbinger of bad things to come, but influential analyst Craig Moffett believes that the real culprit in the slowdown may be sluggish household formation. Moffett said that while the quick reaction is that the growth phase has ended for cable’s most important product, he believes it is tied to declining new household formation.

Broadband Slowdown Won’t Be So Slow

Evercore ISI media analyst Vijay Jayant predicts that while Q3 broadband subscriber increases will be lower than they have been in the past few quarters, it won’t be that dramatic of a decline. This comes just as cable operators are preparing to release their Q3 results. Comcast is expected first out of the gate, with its Q3 earnings report due on October 28, followed by Charter (Oct 29), Altice USA (Nov 4) and Cable One (Nov 4).

Bernstein's Peter Supino Says Telephone Companies Better Positioned to Chip Away at Cable's Broadband Lead

While cable operators grapple with the slowdown of broadband subscriber additions expected in the third quarter and beyond, Bernstein media analyst Peter Supino said that telephone companies, long the butt of jokes about the sluggish speeds and poor service inherent in their core digital subscriber line (DSL) service, have streamlined operations and are positioning themselves to take back significant market share. Supino pointed to AT&T’s spinoff of DirecTV

Broadband Slowdown Forces Analyst to Go Negative on Cable Sector

Fueled by the slowdown of broadband subscriber additions, Wells Fargo media analyst Steven Cahall estimates that as penetration rates rise and DSL competition sputters, the cable sector could be entering a period of diminished profitability. Most cable operators have warned that subscriber additions would be lower as pandemic lockdowns disappeared and workers returned to their offices. But adding to the pressure is increased penetration of homes with annual household incomes above $25,000 — now at about 100 percent — and the continued slide of digital subscriber line (DSL) service.

Wireless subscriber growth and providers' promotional offerings are off the charts

Wireless subscriber growth has been off the charts in 2021, with second-quarter increases nearing records as mobile service providers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile blanket the market with free offerings. But as subscriber numbers have surged, those new customers are a volatile bunch, meaning the industry may soon have to decide whether to keep heavy promotions going just to maintain the status quo or risk losing them by turning off the promotional spigot.

After a Strong 2021, Cable’s Broadband Trajectory Could Reverse in 2022

Cable operators are poised to report another strong year of broadband subscriber growth in 2021 on the heels of last year’s record-breaking increases, but growth could slow substantially in 2022. The momentum from 2020—where cable operators added 4 million broadband customers— should continue into 2021 as the impact from stimulus programs to boost household income and government broadband subsidy efforts should keep churn low.

Cox To Buy Segra’s Commercial Fiber Business

Cox has agreed to purchase the commercial enterprise and carrier business of fiber company Segra from private equity company EQT Infrastructure. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although some published reports put the value of the deal at around $3 billion. Segra, based in Charlotte (NC), is one of the largest privately-held infrastructure providers in the country. As part of the deal, EQT will retain Segra’s residential and small-to-medium sized business segment in Virginia and North Carolina.

Moffett: Stimulus Could Help Maintain Broadband Boom

Cable operators, bracing for a slowdown after the robust broadband growth during the height of the pandemic may be in for a surprise. Federal money from the American Rescue Plan could help maintain, and in some cases spur, high-speed data additions in both urban and rural markets, according to MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett. Cable operators added more than 4 million broadband customers in 2020, the sector’s biggest growth spurt in a decade and one that occurred as penetration levels were in the 80% range.