Cable Gains 2.3 Million New Subscribers

WASHINGTON March 4, 2011 – Broadband continued to expand at a significant pace in 2010 despite a struggling economy, according to data released this week from the Leichtman Research Group. According to the data, cable companies added 2.3 million new subscribers while telephone companies added only 1

WASHINGTON March 4, 2011 – Broadband continued to expand at a significant pace in 2010 despite a struggling economy, according to data released this week from the Leichtman Research Group.

According to the data, cable companies added 2.3 million new subscribers while telephone companies added only 1.1 million.  At the end of 2010, Leichtman calculated 75 million broadband subscribers.

Comcast added the most subscribers 1.05 million, nearly double its closest competitor of Time Warner that added 515,000 subscribers. In comparison,  AT&T – the largest telephone company – added only 521,000 subscribers.

Cable companies generally offer higher speed tiers than telephone packages.  Additionally, cable packages frequently bundle broadband, television and voice  services.

“Despite an increasingly high level of broadband penetration,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc.,” the top broadband providers still added 83 percent as many subscribers in 2010 as in 2009.”