TelecomLead.com Research has revealed the list of major cable operators in the United States slashing their Capex (capital expenditure) in broadband network.
Broadband equipment market drops
The reduction in Capex by cable operators and broadband operators reflects Dell’Oro Group’s recent report that said global revenue for the broadband access equipment market fell 8 percent year-over-year and rose 4 percent quarter-on-year to $4.2 billion in 2Q 2024.
Cable operators are not spending in broadband equipment because they are losing valuable residential subscribers to fiber ISPs and fixed wireless providers.
Cable operators slash Capex
Charter Communications expects capital expenditure of $12 billion in 2024, a decrease from Charter’s previous target of $12.2 billion – $12.4 billion.
Charter Communications has lost 149,000 residential and SMB Internet customers in Q2 to reach 30.4 million at the end of June 30, 2024.
Comcast’s capital expenditures for Q2 2024 were $2.7 billion, a drop of 8.1 percent from the previous year. Capex of Comcast was $2.6 billion, a decrease of 1.3 percent, for the first quarter of 2024.
Comcast has lost 120,000 broadband customers in Q2. Comcast serves 51.7 million customers.
Cox Communications, in order to improve customer experience, has updated its broadband packages, providing faster speeds of a half-gig or more at no extra cost to the majority of its residential customers in the United States.
Fiber operators gain
Capex of Altice USA, a leading fiber operator, is planning Capex of $1.6 billion – $1.7 billion for 2024. In the second quarter of 2024, Altice USA’s Capex was $347.7 million, which was a 26.6 percent decrease year-over-year.
Altice said penetration of its fiber network reached 15.3 percent at the end of Q2 2024, up from 9.4 percent at the end of Q2 2023. Altice added 40,000 Optimum fiber customers in Q2 2024 to reach 341,000. It is targeting 3 million fiber passings by year-end 2024.
AT&T, the leading fiber operator, had a capital investment of $4.9 billion in Q2. AT&T Fiber added 239,000 customers. AT&T’s fiber revenues grew 17.9 percent. AT&T is aiming to reach 30 million-plus consumer and business locations with fiber by the end of 2025.
“Nearly four of every 10 AT&T Fiber households also choose AT&T wireless service. As the nation’s largest consumer fiber builder, we see this as an opportunity to continue to grow subscribers and revenues,” John Stankey, AT&T CEO, said.
Recently, Verizon, which announced a $20 billion deal to buy Frontier in its fiber push, said Frontier’s 2.2 million fiber subscribers across 25 states will join Verizon’s 7.4 million Fios connections in 9 states and Washington, D.C.
Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg said: “The acquisition of Frontier is a strategic fit. It will build on Verizon’s two decades of leadership at the forefront of fiber and is an opportunity to become more competitive in more markets.”
Verizon and Frontier have 10 million fiber customers across 31 states and Washington D.C. with fiber networks passing over 25 million premises.
Broadband equipment market
Fixed wireless CPE unit shipments posted their fourth consecutive quarter of y-on-y growth as cable operators reduced their CPE purchases.
PON equipment spending fell 6 percent from 2Q 2023, driven by an 18 percent decline in spending on PON OLTs.
Spending on fixed wireless CPE rose 32 percent y-on-y, driven by strong growth in 5G Sub-6 GHz unit shipments in North America.
Spending on DOCSIS infrastructure dipped 25 percent y-o-y, though total spending on DAA equipment (RPDs, RMDs, R-OLTs, and vCMTS platforms) was essentially flat.
Spending on residential Wi-Fi routers grew 13 percent y-on-y as consumers are upgrading units and mesh systems.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
