People continue to cut ties with cable internet providers and reports from MoffettNathanson show cable broadband subscriber growth numbers are plummeting year over year.
In the third quarter of 2020, broadband subscriber growth was at its highest compared to the five-year span before, which stayed pretty steady between 4.3 percent and 7 percent growth. The report shows 7.4 percent growth year over year for 2020. The final quarter of 2020 showed a drop to 7.3 percent year over year.
Broadband cable started 2021 with 6.9 percent growth year over year and continued to fall roughly 1 percent each quarter throughout the year, ending with 3.8 percent growth.
This trend continued through 2022 as well, starting with 3.2 percent growth in the first quarter, 2 percent in the second quarter, and 1.2 percent in the third quarter. By the end of the fourth quarter, broadband subscriber numbers had fallen to only 0.7 percent growth year over year.
This comes as T-Mobile reported that in just three months of the 1st quarter of 2023, T-Mobile added 523,000 home internet customers.
That number is more new home internet customers than AT&T, Comcast, Charter, and Verizon added in the 4th quarter of 2022 combined, according to T-Mobile. This comes as Americans are being drawn to cheaper new options, including T-Mobile’s $ 50-a-month home internet service.
2023 isn’t looking promising for broadband cable either. First quarterly reports show a measly 0.1 percent growth. MoffettNathanson’s analyst Craig Moffett predicts broadband subscriber growth to be “minimal going forward”, estimating averages of 0.7 percent through 2027.
This is all apart of what is being called Cord Cutting 2.0 as Americans start looking for new options for not just TV but internet also.
Cable broadband providers are facing competition from fiber and fixed wireless access service providers. Fiber optic cable connections offer faster speeds in most areas along with larger bandwidth capacities.
That’s not the only factor contributing to subscriber losses. Pricing is heavily factored into people’s decisions on whether switching providers is the best option for them and a growing number of people have decided yes.
Streaming services are cheaper than a cable package accompanying broadband services and there are several platforms that are completely free to use. Why pay for broadband cable when you could switch to a cheaper option paying only your internet bill?