Leichtman Research Group: Broadband Growth Decelerates to 370K in Q2

The top 16 US high-speed internet providers, covering 96% of the market, added 370,000 customers in the second quarter, off from the 480,000 added on a pro forma basis in the same period of 2018, according to new research from Leichtman Research Group. The dip is an anomaly for now—customers growth metrics were up for landline broadband suppliers in the first quarter. Cable operators added 532,211 high-speed internet users in Q2, LRG said, about 90% of what they added in the same period of 2018. Telecommunications providers including AT&T, Verizon, and Centurylink lost over 160,000 users in Q2 vs. a loss of 110,000 in 2018. The top eight cable operators now control more than 66% of US broadband customers in the LRG tally. Notably, over the last 12 months, the top broadband suppliers have added 2.52 million users vs. 2.27 million in the prior one-year period.