BASKING RIDGE, N.J. � Five of the seven top telecommunications companies lost broadband subscribers in the third quarter of 2016, as they focused on upgrading their DSL customers to fiber lines, and not bringing on new customers, according tolight reading.
Only Verizon Communications and Cincinnati Bell managed to register any gains, while both CenturyLink and Frontier Communications lost at least 40,000 data customers.
Over the past 12 months, the telcos have lost more than 500,000 broadband subscribers.
Comcast and Charter added new customers, with Charter actually gaining more broadband subscribers than Comcast in the third quarter of 2016, beating it by a margin of 58,000 subs (387,000 to 329,000). Charter acquired both Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks in 2016, making it the second largest broadband provider in the land with 22.2 million subs, surpassing AT&T. Comcast remains the nation’s top broadband provider with 24.3 million subs.�
