Traditional Providers Losses, 1st Quarter 2024 Edition

[Bruce]

Verizon is up first, lost 64,000 Fios pay TV customers, taking its total to 2.951 million, down 8.8% year-on-year.

Next up, Comcast on Thursday, Charter Friday.

https://www.digitaltveurope.com/2024/01/25/verizon-boosted-by-fwa-broadband-but-loses-pay-tv-subs/

 

[Bruce]

Comcast lost 487,000 cable TV customers in the first quarter.

Already with just two providers reporting, we are at a 551,000 video subscriber loss.

The company also lost 65,000 broadband customers for the quarter, a jump over the 34,000 it lost in the 4th quarter of 2023.

Comcast Lost Over 487,000 TV Customers & Lost 65,000 Internet Customers in Q1 2024 as Cord Cutting is Speeding Up | Cord Cutters News

Cord cutting is continuing to hit Comcast hard as the company has recently lost both TV and internet customers. In Comcast’s 1st quarter earnings report released this morning, the company reported it lost 487,000 cable TV customer losses. That works out to over 5,300 Subscribers Every Day. The...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[KAB]

Comcast lost 487,000 cable TV customers in the first quarter.

Already with just two providers reporting, we are at a 551,000 video subscriber loss.

The company also lost 65,000 broadband customers for the quarter, a jump over the 34,000 it lost in the 4th quarter of 2023.

Comcast Lost Over 487,000 TV Customers & Lost 65,000 Internet Customers in Q1 2024 as Cord Cutting is Speeding Up | Cord Cutters News

Cord cutting is continuing to hit Comcast hard as the company has recently lost both TV and internet customers. In Comcast’s 1st quarter earnings report released this morning, the company reported it lost 487,000 cable TV customer losses. That works out to over 5,300 Subscribers Every Day. The...

cordcuttersnews.com

I know it depends on market, but I wonder where the broadbanders are going?

 

[Bruce]

I know it depends on market, but I wonder where the broadbanders are going?

My guess is 5G services.

My old sub-division back in Michigan ( moved in 2020), we only had one option, Comcast, today, they have all of the 5G Options available.

Where I am now, in Florida, only Charter/Spectrum, no 5G, in the next few years, we shall see.

 

[KAB]

My guess is 5G services.

My old sub-division back in Michigan ( moved in 2020), we only had one option, Comcast, today, they have all of the 5G Options available.

Where I am now, in Florida, only Charter/Spectrum, no 5G, in the next few years, we shall see.

I tried T-Mobil's 5g and it was horrible. Would not connect in 5g to several devices (inlcuding two TV's) and several of our smart devices would not connect (to 2.4). Not to mention their speed throttling.

 

[Bruce]

I tried T-Mobil's 5g and it was horrible. Would not connect in 5g to several devices (inlcuding two TV's) and several of our smart devices would not connect (to 2.4). Not to mention their speed throttling.

Not everyone has the same experience, have read many positive stories along with the negative ones.

 

[ncted]

Not everyone has the same experience, have read many positive stories along with the negative ones.

Yeah, it seems like there are a lot of happy customers out there, mostly due to the price:

J.D. Power: 5G Fixed Wireless Has the Highest Customer Satisfaction - Telecompetitor

A high level of price satisfaction drove strong results for fixed wireless. Scores were highest for 5G FWA, rather than FWA based on LTE.

www.telecompetitor.com

I assume the prices will go up significantly at some point. There is a lot of uncertainty as to whether they are making any money on it at the current prices. Given they have already started deprioritizing it and begging the FCC for more mid-band spectrum, that suggests to me that they expect it to be a burden on their networks at some point, if not already.

 

[djont57]

Not everyone has the same experience, have read many positive stories along with the negative ones.

I have had TMHI for almost 2 yrs now; it's been great. Many evenings there will be 4 devices streaming at a time. Way better than the crappy Frontier internet service I had before.

 

[Bruce]

I have had TMHI for almost 2 yrs now; it's been great. Many evenings there will be 4 devices streaming at a time. Way better than the crappy Frontier insternet service I had before.

I still chat with one of old neighbors, he switched to T-Mobile.

My old subdivision had a massive flood( had a super rain event) 3 years after we moved ( first one ever in that neighborhood), destroyed everything in all the basements.

He said Comcast has not worked correctly since then ( all underground wiring in the neighborhood, I assume water got into the lines), constant outages everyday, so he switched since he works from home, says it has been great, never a issue.

 

[dishdude]

I have had TMHI for almost 2 yrs now; it's been great. Many evenings there will be 4 devices streaming at a time. Way better than the crappy Frontier internet service I had before.

I've had it for about 2 years now as well, switched to it because Cox kept dropping out during the day. T-Mobile is half the price and more reliable!

 

[MikeD-C05]

I've had it for about 2 years now as well, switched to it because Cox kept dropping out during the day. T-Mobile is half the price and more reliable!

Do you see any throttling of the bandwidth when you get a certain amount in, like they cut the speeds? I am located in a park with lots of trees and I can only get 3 to 4 bars in my house. T mobile says that I can receive it in my area but I am worried it wouldn't be enough for my son and us to both use the computer and he plays games and he does his college paper work on it too. Presently we have Spectrum and I am getting over 300 mpbs but I am supposed to get 500 mpbs. After June 24th it goes off the deal I have with them for only $60.00 a month. So wondering if T-mobile would work since I have it for my cell service anyway.

 

[Bruce]

Do you see any throttling of the bandwidth when you get a certain amount in, like they cut the speeds? I am located in a park with lots of trees and I can only get 3 to 4 bars in my house. T mobile says that I can receive it in my area but I am worried it wouldn't be enough for my son and us to both use the computer and he plays games and he does his college paper work on it too. Presently we have Spectrum and I am getting over 300 mpbs but I am supposed to get 500 mpbs. After June 24th it goes off the deal I have with them for only $60.00 a month. So wondering if T-mobile would work since I have it for my cell service anyway.

I believe it give you a trial period of 2 weeks, so that you can return it if it does not work out.

The speed of your Charter connection might be related to your modem, what model is it.

I remember when I upgraded to Comcast’s 1G speed, I was only getting 300 down, that was because I needed a new modem.

 

[AZ.]

Do you see any throttling of the bandwidth when you get a certain amount in, like they cut the speeds? I am located in a park with lots of trees and I can only get 3 to 4 bars in my house. T mobile says that I can receive it in my area but I am worried it wouldn't be enough for my son and us to both use the computer and he plays games and he does his college paper work on it too. Presently we have Spectrum and I am getting over 300 mpbs but I am supposed to get 500 mpbs. After June 24th it goes off the deal I have with them for only $60.00 a month. So wondering if T-mobile would work since I have it for my cell service anyway.

I live in a tourist town, it bogs down so bad I cant stream. Now I read T-Mobile is capping it at 1.2TB, then you lose priority.

 

[MartyDe]

On my street in CT there are 2 fiber companies plus Cox cable.

 

[Bruce]

I know it depends on market, but I wonder where the broadbanders are going?

My guess is 5G services.

Looks like I was correct-

T-Mobile has reported that it added 405,000 5G home internet customers in the 1st quarter of 2024. This is on top of the 541,000 added in the 4th quarter of 2023 and 523,000 added in the 1st quarter of 2023.

And then this-

T-Mobile and Verizon added more than 3.6 million new 5G Home Internet customers in 2023.

T-Mobile Added More Than 405,000 5G Home Internet Customers as Cord Cutting 2.0 Grows | Cord Cutters News

2023 was a breakout year for 5G Home Internet providers led by T-Mobile and Verizon. Now, according to a report from the Leichtman Research Group, these two companies alone added more than 3.6 million new 5G Home Internet customers in 2023. Now cord cutting 2.0 is continuing to grow in 2024 as...

cordcuttersnews.com

This is why I posted this thread about what Cable Executives thought about Cord Cutting in the past, they basically believed it was a fad, only poor people cut out video, it will slow down, etc.

Looks like they are about to repeat their mistakes.

 

[Bruce]

Another wow.

Charter/Spectrum lost 405,000 TV customers in the 1st quarter of 2024. This is on top of the 320,000 TV customers it lost in the 4th quarter of 2023.

It also lost 72,000 broadband subscribers.

So with today, already at 956,000 who have left Paid Live TV from Traditional Providers.

This is not including internet subscribers.

Looks to be another close to 2 Million lost in the quarter.

 

[ncted]

Looks like I was correct-

T-Mobile has reported that it added 405,000 5G home internet customers in the 1st quarter of 2024. This is on top of the 541,000 added in the 4th quarter of 2023 and 523,000 added in the 1st quarter of 2023.

And then this-

T-Mobile and Verizon added more than 3.6 million new 5G Home Internet customers in 2023.

T-Mobile Added More Than 405,000 5G Home Internet Customers as Cord Cutting 2.0 Grows | Cord Cutters News

2023 was a breakout year for 5G Home Internet providers led by T-Mobile and Verizon. Now, according to a report from the Leichtman Research Group, these two companies alone added more than 3.6 million new 5G Home Internet customers in 2023. Now cord cutting 2.0 is continuing to grow in 2024 as...

cordcuttersnews.com

This is why I posted this thread about what Cable Executives thought about Cord Cutting in the past, they basically believed it was a fad, only poor people cut out video, it will slow down, etc.

Looks like they are about to repeat their mistakes.

A slightly different take on the T-Mo results:

T-Mobile reports more growth, but price hikes loom

T-Mobile increased its postpaid phone customer base and its fixed wireless customer base. But company officials suggested the operator might employ some pricing hikes in the coming months.

www.lightreading.com

its FWA growth rate is slowing. T-Mobile added 405,000 FWA customers during the first quarter, far less than the 541,000 FWA customers it added during the fourth quarter of 2023 and also less than the 523,000 FWA customers it added during the first quarter of 2023

Also:
company officials hinted that T-Mobile might engage in some price hikes in the future, which could dampen the company's growth in the second and third quarters of 2024.

 

[Bruce]

company officials hinted that T-Mobile might engage in some price hikes in the future, which could dampen the company's growth in the second and third quarters of 2024.

Everyone raises their prices, Traditional, streaming, whatever.

I focus on the difference between the services, which for TV, remains the same.

 

[ncted]

Everyone raises their prices, Traditional, streaming, whatever.

I focus on the difference between the services, which for TV, remains the same.

Sure. I was simply referring to my earlier prediction that FWA internet isn't going to stay cheap for long. That said, I do like that it is an option as I think competition keeps prices lower. Now that Google Fiber is in my neighborhood, I don't expect AT&T to raise their prices any time soon. If they do, all I'd have to do it threaten to switch or actually switch. FWA internet accomplishes the same thing where there is only one provider currently.

 

[NashGuy]

My guess is 5G services.

My old sub-division back in Michigan ( moved in 2020), we only had one option, Comcast, today, they have all of the 5G Options available.

Where I am now, in Florida, only Charter/Spectrum, no 5G, in the next few years, we shall see.

Yeah, a lot of folks leaving cable broadband are switching to fixed 5G, although many to fiber too.

Just this week, Comcast announced a new low-end value-priced option, designed to compete with 5G, I'm sure. It's called NOW Internet. It's prepaid, no contract, no credit check, no add-on fees, and no data cap. Comes with a free older model Comcast gateway (dual-band AC, I think, with gigabit ethernet ports). There's no promo or bundle pricing and no free access to Comcast's public wifi hotspot network.

But the prices are very compelling: a flat $30/mo for 100 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up (typically about 119/12) or $45/mo for 200 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up (typically about 238/12).

The $30 plan will probably be the long-term solution for me as well as my parents. (I help them manage all their tech.) 100 Mbps is plenty fast enough to stream 4K HDR on two TVs at once with bandwidth to spare for web surfing. And 10 Mbps up has been perfectly sufficient for our 720p video calls. I see no point in paying more for additional bandwidth that we wouldn't use.

Around here, at least, Comcast's network is good, quite reliable. I did have reliability problems with them over a decade ago but not any time recently. I'm glad fixed 5G exists and is putting pricing pressure on cable but I prefer the reliability of a wired connection. I did try Verizon 5G Home for one month a couple years back. It was mostly good although the gateway would randomly reboot occasionally. Speed test results varied wildly but it was always fast enough to stream 4K without buffering.

EDIT: Here's the NOW Internet website for anyone interested: Internet