2023 was a breakout year for 5G Home Internet providers led by T-Mobile and Verizon. Now in 2024 that trend is still on pace for them to add more than 2.2 million 5G home Internet customers.
Cord cutting 2.0 is continuing to grow as T-Mobile has reported that it added 405,000 5G home Internet customers in the 1st quarter of 2024. This is on top of the 541,000 added in the 4th quarter of 2023 and the 523,000 added in the 1st quarter of 2024. Verizon also added 151,000 5G home Internet customers in the 1st quarter of 2024.
All of this has happened as Comcast recently reported it lost 65,000 Internet customers during the 1st quarter of 2024.
What is cord cutting 2.0? Cord cutting 1.0 was cutting the cord on cable TV. Cord cutting 2.0 is about cutting the cord on expensive home Internet and getting new, less expensive options.
Cable broadband providers like Comcast and Spectrum are facing new competition not only from 5G home Internet services but also from fiber, fixed wireless access service providers, satellite services, and more. For the first time ever, Americans have options for home Internet, and they are starting to cut the Internet cord.
This new access to more Internet service options has made it possible to completely break free from cable TV companies—not only from TV service but also from the Internet service.
New providers are not the only factor contributing to subscriber losses. Pricing is heavily factored into peoples’ decisions on whether to switch providers.
AT&T has also launched 5G home Internet services in 2023 to bring home Internet options to Americans who have previously not had options.
Much like in the early days of cord cutting 1.0, the growth of 2.0 is slow right now. We are waiting for more providers to join the market. Amazon announced plans to start offering home Internet next year. Other providers are quickly building out new kinds of Internet to give Americans options.
As we move farther into 2024, cord cutting 2.0 is poised for rapid growth as Spectrum—one of the few cable TV companies to still be adding new Internet customers in 2023—ended the year by losing subscribers in the fourth quarter 2023.
Over the next five years, cable providers will have to deal with a growing number of competitors in a business that was once seen as their safe bet to fight cord cutting. Internet is the front line of the next generation of cord cutting.
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