Telcos Sacrifice Margins For Market Share As Cable’s Broadband Lead Slips

US

Strategy Analytics: Lower Prices and Bundling Will Bring Broadband to 78 Million Homes by 2010. After years of dominating the US market, cable operators' share of broadband Internet customers will decline steadily over the next five years . The report, "Broadband Internet Services in North America: Market Outlook & Analysis," notes that although cable remains the leading broadband platform in the US, its share of the total base of broadband users fell from 62 to 59 percent in 2004. By the end of 2005, cable's share will slip to 57 percent, while share for telcos offering DSL and fiber services will grow from 39 to 41 percent.

Even as they race to launch new services, such as IP-based TV, SBC, Verizon and other telcos are using aggressive price cuts to maintain subscriber growth in DSL. But the competitive race between cable and DSL will remain neck-and-neck through 2005 as top cable operators such as Comcast, Time Warner and Cablevision roll out Voice-Over-IP (VOIP) services to target telco customers. The combination of falling prices and multi-service bundles combining TV, telephony and high-speed Internet services will drive overall adoption of broadband sharply upward over the next five years. By 2010, the report predicts that nearly 78 million US customers will use some type of broadband service. Cable operators will account for about half of that total, while telcos will serve 43 percent of subscribers through a combination of DSL and advanced fiber networks.

Broadband Internet Services in North America: Market Outlook & Analysis Publ 20050616