As cord cutting has matured and helped millions save money on TV, cord cutters now have a new way to save money: The Internet. Cord cutting has come for Internet services, which will make it easy to save money with cord cutting 2.0.
What is cord cutting 2.0? Cord cutting 1.0 was cutting the cord on cable TV. In 2024, cord cutting 2.0 is cutting the cord on expensive home Internet and getting new, less expensive options.
For the first time in recent memory all the top cable TV companies lost Internet customers in 2023. According to a report from the Leichtman Research Group, the top cable TV companies, like Comcast, lost 65,000 customers in 2023. This is down from earlier in 2023 when they added 530,000 subscribers.
According to the report, Atlice lost the most Internet subscribers at 114,100, followed by Comcast at 66,000 subscribers. The only cable TV company in the report to add subscribers was Spectrum with 155,000 subscribers added. But Spectrum also saw Internet subscriber numbers decline as it lost subscribers in the fourth quarter 2023.
Major phone companies like AT&T also lost more than 80,000 Internet subscribers in 2023. Most of that loss came from AT&T losing 98,000 and Lumen losing 279,000 subscribers. These losses were offset by other companies adding subscribers.
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, and satellite services. Americans finally have options for home Internet, and they are starting to cut the Internet cord.
This new access to more Internet service options has—for the first time—made it possible to completely break free from cable TV companies: Not only from the 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 not had options in the past.
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.
In a few weeks we will get an idea of how fast cord cutting 2.0 is growing in 2024. T-Mobile, Verizon, and others will report their 5G home Internet numbers and Comcast, Spectrum, and others reporting their traditional Internet numbers.
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. The Internet is the front line of the next generation of cord cutting.
Please follow us on Facebook and X for more news, tips, and reviews. Need cord cutting tech support? Join our Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.