The top seven U.S. cable companies added nearly 2.9 million wireline broadband customers in 2018, a 6% uptick over 2017, according to data compiled by Leichtman Research Group.
The growth came amid Wall Street concerns throughout 2018 that the cable industry was facing saturation of the wireline broadband market. Growth was led by Comcast, which added nearly 1.4 million high-speed internet users in 2018 vs. about 1.2 million in 2017.
Comcast has added over 1 million HSI users every year since 2010.
Meanwhile, attrition slowed among the top seven “telco” classified providers, which lost just over 472,000 wireline broadband users last year compared to nearly 626,000 in 2017. Verizon, which had lost 79,000 wireline internet customers the years before, reported a narrow gain of 2,000 in 2018.
Overall, the top 14 wireline operators, covering more than 95% of the U.S. market, gained over 2.4 million subscribers in 2018 vs. 2.1 million in 2017. Cable now has a 65% marketshare of the U.S. wireline broadband market, with telcos reporting losses each of the last four years.
