Charter Follows Comcast With Worst-Ever Broadband Quarter, Loses 149,000 Subscribers in Q2

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The good news? Amid a toxic stew of ACP defunding, and fiber and fixed wireless competition, the loss was only around half of what analysts' feared

Charter Communications
(Image credit: Charter Communications)

Charter Communications followed Comcast's landmark-bad Q2 broadband growth with a worst-quarter-ever of its own, reporting the loss of 149,000 residential high speed internet customers in the second quarter. 

With the defunding of the Affordable Communications Program over the spring, along with increased competition from fiber and fixed wireless access, cable broadband is being affected by a range of issues. 

Also read: Internet, Video Losses Continue for Charter

In the words of analyst Craig Moffett, it's not easy right now "to discern what’s really going on in Cable broadband. 

"Today, Charter reported a loss of 'just' 149K broadband subscribers. Yes, as was the case with Comcast, that’s the worst quarter ever for broadband. But the loss was roughly half of what had been feared by consensus. So… yippee? Huh?," Moffett added. 

(Image credit: MoffettNathanson)

Investors are just as flummoxed as equity analysts. After a week in which Charter's stock swung wildly based on the earnings reports of other cable and wireless companies, Charter's stock was up over 16% as of this sentence typing. 

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!