BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT: CABLE IS STILL KING

Another quarter, another three months of cable trouncing DSL in the broadband races. According to a Leichtman Research Group study of the major broadband providers, cable once again led telecom carriers in net broadband subscriber adds, with some of the smaller multiple systems operators actually nearing 20% growth in just three months. But all isn't lost for the telecom team. SBC and BellSouth reported resoundingly good quarters, growing their customer bases 13.1% and 15%, respectively. SBC finished second in total net additions with 226,000 new subscribers, only 31,000 behind cable broadband giant Time Warner. Not all the RBOCs performed so well, though. Qwest saw a dismal quarter of only 3.3% growth.

Broadband cable and DSL customers at the end of Q3
Figure 1

Cable company and DSL provider additions in Q3
Figure 2

Most aggressive and least aggressive players
Figure 3