Moffett: Telcos May Get Some Revenge Over Cable in Broadband Wars

In recent years, cable companies have gained broadband market share against the telecommunication companies except in areas where the telcos have upgraded their traditional copper-based network infrastructure to support speeds competitive with the cablecos’ hybrid fiber coax-based service. But according to researchers at Moffett Nathanson, that’s set to change as telcos, particularly AT&T, get more aggressive about delivering faster broadband speeds. Moffett Nathanson researchers, led by founding partner Craig Moffett, previously forecast that cable companies would gain a 55% broadband take rate nationwide, but have now reduced that forecast to 51%. Planned AT&T upgrades “will have the effect of lowering the percentage of the country where cable competes against legacy DSL...and raising the percentage of the country where cable competes against fiber-to-the-premises,” researchers wrote.