Cable's US Broadband Monopoly Continues To Grow
from the do-not-pass-go,-do-not-collect-$200 dept
The latest broadband data from Leichtman Research illustrates the scope of the problem.
The firm notes that the broadband industry added 890,000 subscribers last quarter. Cable companies added 840,000 of that total, while phone companies added just 50,000:
"The top cable companies added about 840,000 subscribers in 2Q 2021 – 60% of the net additions for the top cable companies in 2Q 2020.
The top wireline phone companies added about 50,000 total broadband subscribers in 2Q 2021 – compared to a net loss of about 140,000 subscribers in 2Q 2020."
Phone companies (Windstream, AT&T, Verizon, Frontier, Centurylink) have effectively given up on residential broadband across much of the country. In many areas that means not just refusing to upgrade aging DSL lines, but often refusing to repair them. That's effectively creating a bigger broadband monopoly than ever for entrenched cable giants (usually Charter (Spectrum) and Comcast), which now dominate roughly 70 percent of the fixed line broadband market. No competition means no incentive to expand, compete on price, or shore up terrible customer service.
People like to pretend that stuff like satellite broadband and wireless will come in and disrupt this busted paradigm, but that's simply not true. Satellite broadband ventures like Elon Musk's Starlink lack the capacity to truly break this logjam at any real scale. And while 5G is also bandied about as a miracle solution to the problem, US wireless isn't a real substitute for for traditional fiber, usually comes with bizarre restrictions and caveats, and is generally expensive (something that will likely get worse thanks to recent industry consolidation).
The way you fix US broadband dysfunction is by targeting the regional fixed-line monopolies enjoyed by AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and Charter.
One way to do that is to drive most subsidies toward smaller private competitors. Another way to do that would be to embrace and support the growing tide of community broadband efforts growing up around the country, whether they be municipal broadband, cooperatives, public/private partnerships, or utility-based.
But because AT&T, Comcast and friends are so politically powerful, efforts to do that usually get largely stripped away from any new broadband bills, as we just witnessed with the Biden broadband plan (in fact, community broadband support was the very first casualty).
Often these compromises, at the direct behest of monopoly lobbyists, are then framed as "bipartisan compromise."
But because the proposals aren't tackling the real reasons for US broadband dysfunction (regional monopolization and the state and federal corruption that protects it), nothing truly changes.
Filed Under: broadband, cable, competition
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Press Releases
About 890,000 Added Broadband in 2Q 2021
Durham, NH — August 18, 2021 — Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that the largest cable and wireline phone providers in the U.S. – representing about 96% of the market – acquired about 890,000 net additional broadband Internet subscribers in 2Q 2021, compared to a pro forma gain of about 1,260,000 subscribers in 2Q 2020. . .
losses
“Net broadband additions in the second quarter of 2021 were the most in any second quarter in the past decade, except for 2Q 2020,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Top broadband providers added 8,000,000 subscribers over the past two years, including about 4,330,000 net adds over the past year, and about 3,670,000 net adds over the prior year.”
| Broadband Providers | Subscribers at end of 2Q 2021 | Net Adds in 2Q 2021 |
| Cable Companies | ||
| Comcast | 31,388,000 | 354,000 |
| Charter | 29,634,000 | 400,000 |
| Cox* | 5,485,000 | 50,000 |
| Altice** | 4,401,300 | 200 |
| Mediacom | 1,468,000 | 14,000 |
| Cable One** | 1,017,000 | 14,000 |
| WOW (WideOpenWest) | 826,300 | 3,400 |
| Atlantic Broadband | 517,851 | 6,847 |
| Total Top Cable | 74,737,451 | 842,447 |
| Wireline Phone Companies | ||
| AT&T | 15,481,000 | 46,000 |
| Verizon | 7,263,000 | 70,000 |
| CenturyLink/Lumen | 4,666,000 | (62,000) |
| Frontier^ | 2,798,000 | (22,000) |
| Windstream | 1,131,800 | 9,500 |
| TDS | 513,600 | 11,900 |
| Cincinnati Bell | 437,800 | 200 |
| Consolidated^^ | 393,480 | (4,522) |
| Total Top Telco | 32,684,680 | 49,078 |
| Total Top Broadband | 107,422,131 | 891,525 |
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