Leichtman Research Group has released a study of the top 19 telco and cable TV companies showing that the number of broadband subscribers in the U.S. grew by about 8.5 million during 2007. However, this was the slowest broadband growth rate in the nation since 2003. As recently as 2006, broadband additions topped 10.4 million.
This research provides more evidence, as if more was needed, that the broadband express is hitting the brakes. Though some will argue that broadband numbers will continue to increase for several more years, the slowdown may give service providers more reason to sell new services to the customers that already have broadband pipes, and less reason to extend those pipes further. Having 62 million or so broadband users sounds pretty impressive, until you put it next to the total U.S. population figure: 303 million.
For more:
- check out this coverage [1] at Multichannel News
Related article:
- Credit Suisse recently downgraded [2] telco stocks, partly on broadband concerns
Links:
[1] http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6537478.html?nid=3407
[2] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/credit-suisse-downgrades-att-verizon/2008-02-20