Footprint expansion key to Comcast's road to broadband subscribership growth, CEO says

Comcast doesn't expect to generate much broadband subscriber growth in the near term, but the operator is holding fast to an expectation that the picture will change… eventually. Comcast grew its broadband base by a mere 3,000 broadband subscribers in Q1 2023. Comcast, like other cable operators, is weathering a mix of factors in the broadband market. Cable broadband subscriber growth accelerated greatly during the early stages of the pandemic, but has since tapered off. Meanwhile, cable operations are facing an increase in fiber and fixed wireless access (FWA) competition and record-low churn driven in part by a slow housing market. One way Comcast is trying to stoke broadband subscriber growth is through footprint expansion. Comcast expects to add 1 million passings in 2023, eclipsing the 840,000 it added in 2022. The bulk of that activity is focused on footprint fill-ins, edge-outs, and "hyper-builds" that include a combined focus on connectivity for residential and business customers, and less so (for now) on network builds aided by government subsidies. Comcast is also trying to remain competitive within its existing footprint against both fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) and FWA rivals.