Broadband Access revenues
Comcast faces competitive intensity; loses 120K broadband subs in 2Q-2024
Comcast today reported adjusted earnings of $1.21 a share for the quarter, beating Wall Street’s call for $1.12, according to FactSet. Revenue of $29.7 billion was slightly below consensus estimates of $30 billion. However, the company reported a loss of 120,000 total domestic broadband customers and 419,000 domestic video subscribers in the 2nd quarter.
“The competitive intensity that we’ve seen for the past several quarters, and which is particularly felt in the market for price-conscious consumers, remains essentially unchanged,” Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said on today’s earnings call.
“One of the most important metrics we monitor is the magnitude of data traffic flowing across our network. And again, we saw a double-digit year-over-year growth this quarter, with broadband-only households consuming over 700 gigabytes of data each month. And our customers continue to take faster speeds, with around 70% of our residential subscribers receiving speeds of 500 megabits per second or higher and one-third getting a gigabit or more. These positive consumer trends play to our strengths and will only accelerate with the shift of live sports to streaming, which together with entertainment on streaming accounts for nearly 70% of our network traffic today.My final thought on broadband is the importance of bundling with mobile, with 90% of Xfinity Mobile smartphone traffic traveling over our WiFi network. These two products work seamlessly together to benefit our customers from both the products’ experience and financial value standpoint.”
Seaport Research analyst David Joyce:
“Due to continued Broadband subscriber losses (where growth is driven by pricing), an elevated competitive environment for the time being, and the mixed Media topline and profitability trajectories, we remain Neutral,” Joyce wrote. Sentiment will improve when there are signs of stabilization in broadband market share, he added.
Comcast is moving ahead with HFC network upgrades, including “mid-splits” that dedicate more capacity to the upstream. Watson said mid-splits have been completed in about 42% of Comcast’s HFC footprint, a figure he expects to reach 50% by the end of the year. Comcast’s mid-splits are occurring alongside a plan to deploy DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades that are initially delivering symmetrical speeds of up to 2 Gbit/s. Comcast has D4.0-based services available in three markets – Philadelphia, Atlanta and Colorado Springs – with Seattle up next.
Broadband average revenue per unit (ARPU), which was up 3.6% in the quarter, remains a bright spot as customers continue to gravitate to higher speed tiers. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts: “Broadband ARPU increased by 3.6% and we delivered 6% revenue growth in our connectivity businesses, while expanding our Adjusted EBITDA margin across Connectivity & Platforms to a record-high 41.9%.”
“Faster homes passed growth shouldn’t be expected to turn broadband subscribership back into a growth engine, but it is a critical factor in keeping broadband subscriber results stable,” MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett explained in a research note (payment required) issued today.
Comcast also expects to participate in the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.
Comcast’s pay-TV business continued its downward spiral. The company lost 419,000 video subs in Q2, an improvement from a year-ago loss of 543,000. Analysts were expecting Comcast to shed about 502,000 video subs in Q2.
The Peacock streaming service, which broadcasts live sporting events like the upcoming summer Olympics, reported paid subscribers soared 38% from a year ago to 33 million, while revenue rose 28% in the 2nd quarter to $1 billion.
2nd Quarter 2024 Highlights:
• Adjusted EPS Increased 7.0% to $1.21; Generated Free Cash Flow of $1.3 Billion, Including a Tax
Payment Related to the Previously Announced Hulu Transaction and Other Tax Related Matters
• Return of Capital to Shareholders Totaled $3.4 Billion Through a Combination of $1.2 Billion in
Dividend Payments and $2.2 Billion in Share Repurchases
• Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA Increased 1.6% to $8.5 Billion and Adjusted EBITDA
Margin Increased 90 Basis Points to 41.9%, Its Highest on Record
• Continued the Successful Execution of Our Domestic Network Expansion and Upgrade Strategy;
Expanded Deployment of Mid-Split Technology to 42% of Our Footprint; And Added 302,000 New
Homes and Businesses Passed in the Second Quarter
• Domestic Broadband Average Rate Per Customer Increased 3.6%, Driving Domestic Broadband
Revenue Growth of 3.0% to $6.6 Billion.
• Domestic Wireless Customer Lines Increased 20% Compared to the Prior Year Period to 7.2 Million,
Including Net Additions of 322,000 in the Second Quarter.
• Business Services Connectivity Adjusted EBITDA Increased 4.4% to $1.4 Billion and Adjusted
EBITDA Margin Was 57.0%.
• Media Adjusted EBITDA Increased 9.0% to $1.4 Billion, Driven by Improved Performance at Peacock
• Peacock Paid Subscribers Increased 38.0% Compared to the Prior Year Period to 33 Million;
Peacock Revenue Increased 28% to $1.0 Billion; Best Year-Over-Year Improvement in Adjusted
EBITDA for Any Quarter Since Launch in 2020.
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References:
https://www.cmcsa.com/static-files/68abe434-80f7-437e-8e7a-fa457e43e63b
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4705822-comcast-corporation-cmcsa-q2-2024-earnings-call-transcript
Point Topic: FTTP broadband subs to reach 1.12bn by 2030 in 29 largest markets
Point Topic forecasts 1.39 billion fixed broadband connections by the end of the decade in the 29 largest broadband markets in the world. Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) is already dominating most of the markets and it will be the preferred option for most consumers, where it is available.
Between 2023 and 2030 Point Topic projects a 15% growth in total fixed broadband subscribers in the top 29 markets. The growth will come mainly from FTTP – although the increase in the total fiber lines will be lower than that in Fixed Wireless Access lines – 25% and 61% respectively, the sheer number of already existing and new FTTP connections will drive the total growth.
Figure 1. Fixed broadband lines by technology (Top 29 markets)
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Split by technology we estimate that by 2030 there will be 1.12 billion FTTP, 149 million cable, 79 million FTTX, 16 million FWA[1] and only 28 million DSL lines in these markets.
Figure 2. Change in fixed broadband lines, 2023-2030 (Top 29 markets)Cable is a term used as a proxy for those legacy MSOs/cablecos (e.g. Charter, VMO2, Comcast, etc.) that still have significant networks based on coaxial cable, mainly DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1. We forecast some decline (-6%) in cable broadband lines by the end of the decade as these networks are being replaced with full fibre. The new generation DOCSIS4, which is in development, will match the capabilities of FTTH with XGPON, so markets with established cable networks will see a slight growth or stable take-up figures for ‘cable’ broadband lines.
FTTX (where fibre is present in the local loop with copper, mainly fiber to the cabinet) will decline over the next seven years (-19%). Some modest growth from new subscribers will remain in a few markets where legacy infrastructure is still widespread. Also, it will remain a cheaper option even where other technologies are available as it still offers enough bandwidth for some users.
DSL will see the largest decline at -44%. However, while being a slower and less reliable solution, it can provide enough bandwidth at a low price to some single or older households that are reluctant to upgrade. Besides, some of them will not have a choice of other technologies, especially in certain regions and markets.
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Figure 3. Fixed broadband penetration, 2023 and 2030 (top 29 markets)
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Point Topic only included FWA in its data in significant markets and where it was able to source reliable figures, such at the U.S., Canada, and Italy. Therefore, the total number of FWA subscribers could end up higher if FWA takes off in other markets.
In the U.S., T-Mobile US and Verizon are the FWA leaders with 8.6 million connections between them as of March 2024. T-Mobile recently added a new FWA service offer to its portfolio aimed at customers who might need a back-up for unreliable fiber or cable connections.
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China will be among the 16 markets with 90%-plus broadband penetration in seven years time. The potential for signing up new customers in those markets will shrink, leaving broadband providers with the task of converting existing customers to higher bandwidths and more advanced technologies for growth.
At the other end of the scale, there is still lots of room for broadband growth. India will have the lowest percentage of premises with a fixed broadband connection by 2030 at 33%, up from just 11% last year.
“There is significant growth to come in the ‘youthful’ markets with low fixed broadband penetration, with plenty of consumers in India, Indonesia and other fast-growing economies hungry for the advantages offered by fixed broadband and full fibre in particular,” Point Topic said.
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References:
https://www.point-topic.com/post/fttp-broadband-subscriber-forecasts-q4-2023
https://www.telecoms.com/fibre/fibre-to-drive-15-broadband-growth-by-2030
U.S. broadband subscriber growth slowed in 1Q-2024 after net adds in 2023
Dell’Oro: Broadband access equipment sales to increase in 2025 led by XGS-PON deployments
Altice USA transition to fiber access; MoffettNathanson analysis of low population growth on cablecos broadband growth
Dell’Oro: Broadband access equipment sales to increase in 2025 led by XGS-PON deployments
Dell’Oro Group expects broadband access equipment sales to decline by 1% in 2024 versus 2023, with the first half of 2024 seeing continued weakness followed by a surge in spending in the second half of the year. The first half of 2024 will continue to see some of the inventory corrections that marked a tough 2023 that saw a spending decline of 8% to 10%, according to Dell’Oro VP Jeff Heynen.
“Although the inventory corrections seen in 2023 will continue through the first half of 2024, the second half of the year is expected to be the turning point towards renewed growth,” said Jeff Heynen, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “Service providers still have the same goals of increasing their fiber footprint, increasing the bandwidth they can offer their customers, and improving the reliability of their broadband services through the distribution of intelligence closer to subscribers,” added Heynen.
Additional highlights from the Broadband Access & Home Networking 5-Year January 2024 Forecast Report:
- PON equipment revenue is expected to grow from $10.8 B in 2023 to $11.8 B in 2028, driven largely by XGS-PON deployments in North America, EMEA, and CALA and early 50 Gbps deployments in China.
- Revenue for Cable Distributed Access Equipment (Virtual CCAP, Remote PHY Devices, Remote MAC/PHY Devices, and Remote OLTs) is expected to reach $1.3 B by 2028, as operators continue their DOCSIS 4.0 and early fiber deployments.
- Revenue for Fixed Wireless CPE is expected to reach $2.5 B by 2028, led by shipments of 5G sub-6GHz and a growing number of 5G Millimeter Wave units.
- Revenue for Wi-Fi 7 residential routers and broadband CPE with WLAN will reach $9.3B by 2028, as the technology is rapidly adopted by consumers and service providers alike.
Source: Dell’Oro Group
About the Report:
The Dell’Oro Group Broadband Access & Home Networking 5-Year Forecast Report provides a complete overview of the Broadband Access market with tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, and port/unit shipments for PON, Cable, Fixed Wireless, and DSL equipment. Covered equipment includes Converged Cable Access Platforms (CCAP), Distributed Access Architectures (DAA), DSL Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs), PON Optical Line Terminals (OLTs), Customer Premises Equipment ([CPE] for Cable, DSL, PON, Fixed Wireless), along with Residential WLAN Equipment, including Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 Gateways and Routers. For more information about the report, please contact [email protected].
References:
Calix and Corning Weigh In: When Will Broadband Wireline Spending Increase?
Dell’Oro: Broadband network equipment spending to drop again in 2024 to ~$16.5 B
Dell’Oro: Broadband Equipment Spending to exceed $120B from 2022 to 2027
Dell’Oro: XGS, 25G, and Early 50G PON Rollouts to Fuel Broadband Spending
Alaska Communications uses XGS-PON, FWA, DSL in ~5K homes including Fairbanks and North Pole
AT&T to deploy FTTP network based on XGS-PON in Amarillo, TX
Telefonica España to activate XGS-PON network in 2022; DELTA Fiber to follow in Netherlands
ZTE sees demand for fixed broadband and smart home solutions while 5G lags
According to a senior executive, ZTE Corp has seen “tremendous” opportunities due to the increased demand for high-speed internet and smart home solutions globally following the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s despite a slower-than-expected development of 5G outside of China.
“Deployment of 5G technology in overseas markets has been slower than what we previously thought and investments in the field have also lagged behind,” said Chen Zhiping, vice-president of ZTE Corp.
“However, we have seen rapid growth of two sectors in our business – fixed broadband and home network solutions – internationally, especially in the Latin American market.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed up demand for these two types of businesses, as people who were confined to their homes became more reliant on high-speed internet connections and home automation, she said.
“We are actively promoting these two areas of business in Latin America. Besides, the Asia-Pacific region is also where we put great focus on, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, as the region has a huge demand for network convergence, network modernization and digitalization,” Chen said.
The Asia-Pacific region is a market from which the company generates most of its overseas revenue, she added.
ZTE posted 60.7 billion yuan ($8.36 billion) in operating revenue in the first half of the year, up 1.5 percent from the year-ago period, according to its interim results announced on Aug 18. Of the total, 17.6 billion yuan, or 29 percent, came from international markets.
Net profit grew 19.9 percent on a yearly basis to 5.47 billion yuan.
“Exploring the domestic market is far from enough for a technology company, whether it is research and development or marketing. We have been committed to the international markets and promoting the globalization of research and development, supply chain and collaboration all along,” she said.
Chen acknowledged that factors such as geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown and a deteriorating business environment in some countries have posed serious challenges to ZTE‘s operations in overseas markets. She stressed that the company had established a sound system of management as well as risk identification and control to deal with potential risks.
On November 225, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to ban U.S. sales of new Chinese telecommunications equipment and devices produced by Huawei and ZTE—as well as to restrict the use of other Chinese-made video surveillance equipment—over national security concerns. The Chinese companies have denied the allegations.
According to a report by German market intelligence platform Statista, the global ICT market is expected to reach $6 trillion in 2023, up from $5.5 trillion last year. China would rank third in global market share with over 11%, following the United States and European Union (EU).
References:
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202309/02/WS64f26e23a310d2dce4bb384f.html
Vodafone Idea (Vi) to launch 5G services “soon;” Awards optical network equipment contract to ZTE
FCC bans Huawei, ZTE, China based connected camera and 2-way radio makers
BroadbandNow Research: Best & Worst States for Broadband Access
A recent study by BroadbandNow Research has assessed the best and worst states in the U.S. for broadband internet access in 2023. The study evaluated each state and the District of Columbia based on various factors such as access to wired or fixed wireless broadband, access to low-priced broadband, median download speed, and median upload speed.
Key Findings:
- Availability of low-priced broadband has increased across the U.S. There is now only 1 state with less than 20% of the population having access to a broadband plan for $60 per month or less (down from 25 states last year). Having said that, in only one state, Wyoming, more than half of residents have access to such a plan.
- Latency (round trip time) is a measure of responsiveness–the time between when you click something and when you get a response–and it’s critical for a smooth internet experience, especially for real-time interactions such as gaming or video calls. There is a huge geographic disparity between states that do well in this metric, like New York or Washington with median round trip times less than 7.5 milliseconds, and states that do poorly, like Hawai’i and Massachusetts with median round trip times greater than 61 milliseconds.
- Delaware is the best state for broadband internet, with 46.2% of its population having access to low-priced broadband and a median download speed of 96.1 Mbps. On the other hand, Alaska ranked at the bottom of the list, with only 20% of its population having access to affordable broadband and a median download speed of 58.5 Mbps.
- We support changing the definition of broadband speeds from 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up to 100Mbps down and 25Mbps up, but we’re a long way away from widespread access to those speeds. Nationally, only 39% of Americans are getting 100Mbps down, and only 25% are getting 25Mbps up.
10 Best States for Broadband
10 Worst States for Broadband
According to the study, there is only one state, Nevada, with less than 20% of its population having access to a broadband plan for $60 per month or less. This is a significant drop from the 25 states that had such limited access last year.
In the Tri-State area, Illinois secured the 14th spot with 95.7% of its residents having access to wired or fixed wireless broadband. Additionally, 31.4% of the population had access to low-priced broadband. Illinois also boasted a median download speed of 85.3 Mbps, surpassing the national median.
Indiana ranked 23rd overall, with an impressive download speed of 85.7 Mbps. 31.4% of its population also had access to low-priced broadband. However, the state fell short in terms of overall broadband access, with only 92.8% of residents having access to wired or fixed wireless broadband.
Kentucky landed at the 36th spot, with a mere 25% of its population having access to affordable broadband. In an effort to improve access, Governor Andy Beshear, Senator Mitch McConnell, and other lawmakers secured over $1 billion in funding for broadband access in June, marking the largest public investment in high-speed internet in the state’s history.
References:
GAO: U.S. Broadband Benchmark Speeds Too Slow; FCC Should Analyze Small Business Speed Needs
FCC proposes 100 Mbps download as U.S. minimum broadband speed
Dell’Oro: Broadband Equipment Spending to exceed $120B from 2022 to 2027
Dell’Oro Group predicts the broadband equipment market will surpass $120 billion in cumulative spending between 2022 and 2027. The market research firm says sales of PON equipment for fiber-to-the-home deployments, cable broadband access equipment, and fixed wireless CPE will show a 0.2% Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2022 to 2027. Service providers continue to expand their fiber and DOCSIS 3.1/4.0 networks, while also increasing the reliability and sustainability of their broadband access networks.
“After three consecutive years of tremendous broadband network expansions and upgrades, 2023 is expected to show a return to normalized levels of spending,” said Jeff Heynen, Vice President of Broadband Access and Home Networking research at Dell’Oro Group. “After 2023, spending is expected to increase through 2026 and 2027, driven by 25 Gbps and 50 Gbps PON, Fixed Wireless CPE, as well as DAA and DOCSIS 4.0 deployments.”
Labor markets are “still being challenged” and a number of fiber based network operators (AT&T, Altice USA, Frontier) have reduced their expansion plans and homes passed targets. “To close out 2022 we did see a significant uptake in equipment purchases, and what happened there was supply chains appeased. A lot of orders that had been on the books for a long time have been fulfilled.”
Network equipment vendors are working through that inventory they had built up while taking on “additional equipment purchases.
Additional highlights from the Broadband Access & Home Networking 5-Year July 2023 Forecast Report:
- PON equipment revenue is expected to grow from $11.8 B in 2022 to $13.3 B in 2027, driven largely by XGS-PON deployments in North America, EMEA, and CALA.
- Revenue for Cable Distributed Access Equipment (Virtual CCAP, Remote PHY Devices, Remote MACPHY Devices, and Remote OLTs) is expected to reach $1.6 B by 2027, as operators ramp their DOCSIS 4.0 and fiber deployments.
- Revenue for Fixed Wireless CPE is expected to reach $2.7 B by 2027, led by shipments of 5G sub-6GHz and 5G Millimeter Wave units.
- Revenue for Residential Wi-Fi Routers will surpass $5.2 B in 2027, owing to massive shipments of Wi-Fi 7 units.
“Which isn’t going to float to manufacturers until you know, late 2024, really into 2025,” he said. “I think in the interim, XGS-PON in the European market is certainly going to catch up. We’re also seeing considerable growth in XGS-PON deployments now in China.”
In Dell’Oro’s five-year forecast published in January, Heynen expected fixed wireless subscriber growth, particularly in North America, would “start to moderate” beginning in 2024, due to factors like “capacity issues and fiber expansion.”
Heynen has increased his revenue predictions for the fixed wireless CPE market – which he previously tipped would hit $2.2 billion in five years – and now predicts subscriber growth to continue into 2025.
“Part of that is because of the net reduction in homes passed for fiber,” he said. “In the meantime, fixed wireless will be able to cover more ground while the operators who are building out fiber kind of extend their overall deployment plans.”
Further, operators like T-Mobile and Verizon “are seeing fixed wireless as a way to secure broadband subscribers away from cable operators. The U.S. market is really dynamic in terms of how services can be marketed.”
The Dell’Oro Group Broadband Access & Home Networking 5-Year Forecast Report provides a complete overview of the Broadband Access market with tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, and port/unit shipments for PON, Cable, Fixed Wireless, and DSL equipment. Covered equipment includes Converged Cable Access Platforms (CCAP), Distributed Access Architectures (DAA), DSL Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs), PON Optical Line Terminals (OLTs), Customer Premises Equipment ([CPE] for Cable, DSL, PON, Fixed Wireless), along with Residential WLAN Equipment, including Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 Gateways and Routers. For more information about the report, please contact [email protected].
Dell’Oro Group is a market research firm that specializes in strategic competitive analysis in the telecommunications, security, enterprise networks, data center infrastructure markets. Our firm provides in-depth quantitative data and qualitative analysis to facilitate critical, fact-based business decisions. For more information, contact Dell’Oro Group at +1.650.622.9400 or visit www.delloro.com.
References:
https://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/broadband-equipment-market-eclipse-120b-2027-delloro
Dell’Oro: XGS, 25G, and Early 50G PON Rollouts to Fuel Broadband Spending
Dell’Oro: Bright Future for Campus Network As A Service (NaaS) and Public Cloud Managed LAN
Dell’Oro: FWA revenues on track to advance 35% in 2022 led by North America
Dell’Oro: PONs boost Broadband Access; Total Telecom & Enterprise Network Equipment Markets
Dell’Oro: U.S. suppliers ~20% of global telecom equipment market; struggling in RAN business
Futuriom and Dell’Oro weigh in on SD-WAN and SASE market: single vendor solutions prevail
AT&T, Verizon and Comcast all lost fixed broadband subscribers in 2Q-2023
The three most dominant broadband wireline ISPs in the U.S. all lost wireline subscribers in Q2-2023.
1. AT&T’s net total broadband access showed a loss of 35,000 subscribers in Q2-2023, which widened from a loss of -25,000 in the year-ago quarter. AT&T ended Q2 with 15.3 million broadband connections (including DSL), down 1.3% from 15.5 million a year earlier.
AT&T continued to add new fiber subscribers, but the pace of that growth slowed. AT&T added 251,000 fiber subs in Q2, down from +316,000 in the year-ago quarter and down from +272,000 in the prior quarter.
AT&T ended the period with 7.73 million fiber subs. Fiber average revenue per user (ARPU) was $62.26, up from $57.64 in the year-ago period.
(Source: AT&T Q2 2023 earnings presentation)
AT&T added about 500,000 fiber locations during the quarter, ending Q2 with 20.2 million. CEO Stankey said AT&T remains on track to build fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) tech to 30 million locations by 2025.
AT&T’s average fiber penetration rate is hovering at 38%. “Everywhere we put fiber in the ground, we feel good about our ability to win with consumers,” Stankey said.
AT&T shed 286,000 non-fiber subscribers in the quarter, lowering that total to 5.95 million. AT&T also lost another 25,000 DSL subs in the quarter, ending the period with just 259,000.
Source: AT&T
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2. While Verizon added 54K FiOS internet subscribers in 2Q-2023 (51K FiOS net adds from Consumer, 3K from Business customers), it had a net loss of 304K wireline broadband subs when the loss of DSL subscribers was factored in.
From Verizon’s 2Q-2023 earnings call presentation:
Source: Verizon
Remarkably, Verizon added a net 384K fixed wireless subscribers, an increase from 256,000 fixed wireless net additions in second-quarter 2022. Verizon now has nearly 2.3 million subscribers on its fixed wireless service.
Due to FWA growth, Verizon reported total broadband net additions of 418,000 in 2Q-2023.
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Comcast, the largest U.S. ISP, lost 20,000 residential broadband subscribers, lowering its total to 29.79 million. Comcast’s total broadband subscriber loss of 19,000 (including a gain of 1,000 business broadband customers), was better than the -74,000 expected by Wall Street analysts.
Comcast, which lost 10,000 residential broadband subs in the year-ago quarter, warned in April that it doesn’t expect to see much in the way of broadband subscriber growth gains in the near-term. The company also noted that it expected those numbers to be even lower in Q2 due to a slow housing move market paired with traditional “seasonality” driven by students and retirees returning for the summer.
Dave Watson, president and CEO of Comcast Cable, said on today’s earnings call that he expects Comcast to return to broadband subscriber growth “over time.” One way Comcast is pursuing subscriber growth is through network expansion and edge-outs that will total about 1 million locations in 2023. Comcast, which operates in 39 US states, also intends to participate in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which recently announced state-by-state funding allocations.
Comcast has cited average revenue per user (ARPU) growth as the key metric of its broadband business. And Comcast’s broadband ARPU grew 4.5% in the quarter, matching the ARPU growth rate it posted in the prior quarter.
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Here are the top 20 broadband wireline ISPs in the U.S.:
| # | Internet Service Provider | Type | States |
| 1 | Comcast | Cable | National |
| 2 | Charter Communications | Cable | National |
| 3 | AT&T | Fiber | National |
| 4 | Verizon | Fiber | Mid-Atlantic, Northeast |
| 5 | Cox Communications | Cable | National |
| 6 | Altice USA | Cable/Fiber | National |
| 7 | Lumen Technologies | Fiber | West, Florida |
| 8 | Frontier Communications | Fiber | National |
| 9 | Mediacom Communications | Cable | Midwest, Southeast |
| 10 | Astound Broadband | Cable/Fiber | National |
| 11 | Windstream Holdings | Fiber | South, Midwest, Northeast |
| 12 | Brightspeed | Fiber | Midwest, Southeast |
| 13 | Cable One | Cable | West, Midwest, South |
| 14 | Breezeline | Cable/Fiber | East Coast |
| 15 | WideOpenWest (WOW!) | Cable/Fiber | AL, FL, GA, MI, SC, TN |
| 16 | TDS Telecom | Cable/Fiber | National |
| 17 | Midco (Midcontinent Communications) | Cable | MN, ND, SD, WI, KS |
| 18 | Consolidated Communications | Fiber | National (22 states) |
| 19 | Google Fiber | Fiber | National (16 states) |
| 20 | Ziply Fiber | Fiber | WA, OR, ID, MT |
Source: https://dgtlinfra.com/top-internet-providers-us/
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References:
https://about.att.com/story/2023/q2-earnings.html
Point Topic: Global Broadband Tariff Benchmark Report- 2Q-2022
In the twelve months to the close of Q2 2022, global residential fixed line broadband subscribers saw their average monthly charges decrease by 4% on copper, cable and fiber-based tariffs. Across the three technologies the average bandwidth increased by 22% year-on-year (y-o-y), due to the increased innovation and proliferation of fiber-based networks globally. Business subscribers continued to struggle with rising monthly charges, with the average monthly charge increasing by 12% and the average downstream speed standing at 426 Mbps compared to residential tariff averages of 464 Mbps.
The Asia-Pacific region retained its dominant bandwidth position with average speeds of 1,146 Mbps, up from 1,355 Mbps in Q4 2021 and 1,135 Mbps y-o-y, followed by North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia with the three regions reaching a combined average of around 465 Mbps.
Qatar, Switzerland and Southeast Asian countries still remain at the top of the league by average bandwidth along Italy, France and Bulgaria; these countries all rank in the top ten cheapest for residential broadband in terms of average cost per Mbps being less than $0.10 PPP.
In Q2 2022, the combined average download bandwidth grew by 20% compared to Q2 2021 and stood at 426 Mbps. This was caused by the boost in the average speed over cable and especially fibre, 14% and 22% respectively. Copper maintained largely the same average download speed compared to the previous quarter. However, the overall global average monthly cost across the three technologies has increased by just over 12% from $217 PPP to $244 PPP at the close of Q2 2022
References:
Global Broadband Tariff Benchmark Report, Q2 2022 (point-topic.com)
USTelecom Broadband Pricing Index (BPI): substantial price reductions for broadband access
While U.S. inflation in 2022 has soared to a 40+ year high (at 8.6% YoY), the price of broadband internet access is still falling and consumers are getting even more for less.
USTelecom’s latest analysis of the broadband marketplace: 2022 Broadband Pricing Index (BPI). This year’s report finds pricing for the most popular and highest-speed broadband internet services continues to decline while value continues to increase. The research compares prices over two time periods: the year-over-year price difference from 2021-2022; and a longer-term view of price changes between 2015 and 2022.
The third installment of the USTelecom Broadband Pricing Index (BPI) reveals continued substantial price reductions for both the most popular and highest-speed broadband internet services.
As in previous years, the BPI uses FCC and other public data sources to assess recent trends in residential fixed broadband pricing in the United States. The 2022 edition of the BPI compares prices over two time intervals:
- The price difference from 2021-2022
- A longer-term view in price changes between 2015 and 2022
In both cases, as in the past, the BPI creates an index that allows comparisons between the most popular speed tiers in each year (BPI-Consumer Choice) and the highest speed tiers in each year (BPI-Speed).
Key Findings of the Report:
Broadband Pricing Ran Counter to Significant Overall Inflation in the Past Year
- Real BPI-Consumer Choice broadband prices dropped by 14.7% from 2021-2022
- Real BPI-Speed broadband prices dropped by 11.6% from 2021-2022
- In contrast, the cost of overall goods and services rose by 8% from 2021-2022
Historical Broadband Pricing Analysis Shows Real Broadband Prices Have Been Cut in Half from Seven Years Ago
- Real BPI-Consumer Choice tier prices dropped by 44.6% from 2015-2022
- Real BPI-Speed tier prices dropped by 52.7% from 2015-2022
The Consumer Value of Broadband Service Has Never Been Higher
- Providers have increased the speeds of their broadband offerings. When combined with the price drops for that service, the overall value to customers (measured on a dollars/megabit basis) shows a dramatic improvement over the past seven years.
- The real cost per megabit of both the most popular and fastest service offerings have dropped by around 75% since 2015. This gives the consumers a boost in their wallet and in their daily online performance.
References:
https://ustelecom.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/USTelecom-Broadband-Pricing-Report2022.pdf
Dell’Oro: PONs boost Broadband Access; Total Telecom & Enterprise Network Equipment Markets
According to a newly published report by Dell’Oro Group, total global revenue for the Broadband Access equipment market increased to $16.3B in 2021, up 12 percent year-over-year (Y/Y). Growth came once again from spending on both PON infrastructure and fixed wireless CPE.
“2021 was a record year for PON (Passive Optical Network) equipment spending, with some of the highest growth coming from the North American market, where expansion projects and fiber overbuilds are picking up considerably,” said Jeff Heynen, Vice President, Broadband Access and Home Networking at Dell’Oro Group. “These fiber expansion projects show no signs of slowing heading into 2022.”
Additional highlights from the 4Q 2021 Broadband Access and Home Networking quarterly report:
- Total cable access concentrator revenue increased 4 percent Y/Y to just over $1B. Steady growth in Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) deployments helps offset declines in traditional CCAP licenses.
- Total PON ONT unit shipments reached a record 140 M units for the year, bucking the supply chain constraints that have dogged the cable CPE market.
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Separately, Dell’Oro just completed the 4Q2021 reports for all the Telecom Infrastructure programs covered, including Broadband Access, Microwave & Optical Transport, Mobile Core Network (MCN), Radio Access Network (RAN), and SP Router & Switch. The data contained in these reports suggests that total year-over-year (Y/Y) revenue growth slowed in the fourth quarter to 2%, however, this was not enough to derail full-year trends.
The market research firm estimates suggest the overall telecom equipment market advanced 7% in 2021, recording a fourth consecutive year of growth, underpinned by surging wireless revenues and healthy demand for wireline-related equipment spurred on by double-digit growth both in RAN and Broadband Access. Total worldwide telecom equipment revenues approached $100 B, up more than 20% since 2017.
In addition to challenging comparisons, we attribute the weaker momentum in the fourth quarter to external factors including COVID-19 restrictions and supply chain disruptions.
The analysis contained in these reports suggests the collective global share of the leading suppliers remained relatively stable between 2020 and 2021, with the top seven vendors comprising around 80% of the total market.
Despite U.S. sanctions, Huawei continued to lead the global market, underscoring its grip on the Chinese market, depth of its telecom portfolio, and resiliency with existing footprints. Initial readings suggest the playing field is more even outside of China, with Ericsson and Nokia essentially tied at 20% and Huawei accounting for around 18% of the market.
The relative growth rates have been revised upward for 2022 to reflect new supply chain and capex data. Still, global telecom equipment growth is expected to moderate from 7% in 2021 to 4% in 2022.
Risks are broadly balanced. In addition to the direct and indirect impact of the war in Ukraine and the broader implications across Europe and the world, the industry is still contending with COVID-19 restrictions and supply chain disruptions. At the same time, wireless capex is expected to surge in the U.S. this year.
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Top 10 Enterprise Network Equipment Vendors:
References:
Key Takeaways—2021 Total Enterprise Network Equipment Market
