Cord Cutting 2.0 Hits Comcast Hard

telcodad · 2025-04-07T11:51:16+00:00

According to a recent Cord Cutters News survey, less than half of cord cutters now use cable TV providers for even their home internet: Cord Cutting 2.0 Hits Comcast, Spectrum, & Other Cable TV Companies Hard As Their Internet Market Share Drops Below 50% With Cord Cutters By Luke Bouma, Cord Cutters News - April 7, 2025 https://cordcuttersnews.com/cord-cutting-2-0-hits-comcast-spectrum-other-cable-tv-companies-hard-as-their-internet-market-share-drops-below-50-with-cord-cutters/ Cable TV companies are facing a brutal reckoning in 2025 as the phenomenon dubbed “Cord Cutting 2.0” accelerates, pushing their dominance in the internet service market to new lows. According to a recent survey of over 1,900 cord cutters conducted by Cord Cutters News, less than half of cord cutters—42.7%—now rely on cable TV providers for their home internet, a steep drop from 51.1% in 2023. This seismic shift highlights a growing exodus from traditional cable internet services, driven by the rise of fiber, 5G home internet, and alternative providers, leaving industry giants like Comcast and Spectrum scrambling to adapt. The survey paints a stark picture of a rapidly changing landscape. In 2025, fiber-optic internet has surged to claim 33.4% of cord cutters, up from 26.7% two years ago, reflecting its growing availability and appeal with faster, more reliable speeds. Meanwhile, 5G home internet providers like T-Mobile and Verizon have captured 16.3% of the market, a notable jump from 11.5% in 2023, as affordable plans and easy setup lure tech-savvy households. SpaceX’s Starlink, while still a niche player, holds steady at 0.8%, catering primarily to rural users with its satellite-based service. The remaining 6.8% of cord cutters turn to a mix of other options, including DSL and smaller regional providers. This data underscores the evolution of “Cord Cutting 2.0,” comes as Americans extend their cord cutting beyond ditching cable TV subscriptions to abandoning cable internet cutting times with companies like Comcast and Spectrum altogether. The survey, conducted in March 2025, reflects responses from a diverse pool of readers who’ve ditched traditional pay-TV services, offering a glimpse into the broader trend reshaping the telecom industry. In 2023, cable TV internet still held a slim majority at 51.1%, buoyed by its widespread infrastructure and bundled offerings. But the past two years have seen fiber providers like AT&T and Google Fiber expand aggressively, while 5G home internet has gained traction with promotional pricing—often under $50 a month—and no-equipment headaches. For cable giants, the numbers spell trouble. Comcast reported losing 389,000 broadband subscribers in Q4 2024 alone, while Charter’s Spectrum shed 291,000, trends that analysts say are likely to worsen in 2025. Indeed, the average cable internet bill now hovers around $85 monthly, compared to $60 for fiber and $45 for 5G plans, per industry data. The survey’s breakdown for 2025 is as follows: Cable TV Internet: 42.7% Fiber: 33.4% 5G Home Internet (e.g., T-Mobile, Verizon): 16.3% Starlink (SpaceX): 0.8% Other: 6.8% Compare that to 2023: Cable TV Internet: 51.1% Fiber: 26.7% 5G Home Internet: 11.5% Other (including Starlink, DSL, etc.): 10.7% The shift isn’t just about cost—reliability and flexibility matter too. Fiber’s symmetrical speeds appeal to remote workers and gamers, while 5G’s plug-and-play setup suits renters and mobile lifestyles. Starlink, though a small slice, fills a critical gap for rural cord cutters where cable never reached. As Cord Cutting 2.0 gains momentum, cable companies face an existential challenge: adapt or fade. Some are pivoting to offer their own fiber services, but for many, it may be too little, too late. For now, the 2025 survey signals a clear message—less than half of cord cutters are sticking with cable, and that number may keep falling as alternatives continue to rise.

computerman2

Around here No At&T fiber yet in the area, is across the 4 lane busy highway access to At&T Fiber according to FCC Broadband map

If it ever comes across to this side of City

I’ll have to seriously consider if its best to stay with Comcast or Swap to At&T Fiber, hopefully for 500/500, don’t think i’d need anything faster honestly even though with Comcast using 1100Mbps/35 upload currently

Right now though very happy

videomatic3

telcodad yep, 2 years ago a lot of talk and little action. probably 10 years before we see anything significant.

bigcoda

videomatic3
What your referring to AT&T’s older Uverse areas that’s FTTN (Fiber to the Node). All the new stuff is FTTP, they only offer these speeds in there FTTP areas.

Man-of-Leisure

SpottedCat Fiber to the home is the future; companies really should be moving to it as quickly as possible.

Who do you expect to pay for that?

The customers, with higher prices.

videomatic3

bigcoda you said exactly as i was talking about. FTTN was still advertised as FIBER.

bigcoda

computerman2
There are a lot of AT&T fiber areas around my city, but not around my neighborhood. I don’t understand why Comcast can’t offer straightforward pricing on there DOCSIS 3.1 tiers, like they do on there DOCSIS 4.0 X-Class tiers? Even with there new 5 year price lock on there DOCSIS 3.1 tiers, you still have to accept there gateway with xFi complete to get unlimited data. Then get hit with ballooning price increase at the end of the price lock. Why can’t Xfinity offer a free gateway period, like they do on there X-Class tiers? And like AT&T does on there fiber internet?

computerman2

Across the Busy 4 Lane Highway there is alot of At&T Fiber available lol, this side of Town unforuately only Slower AT&T, Wideopenwest Cable, and Comcast lol.

Might just go ahead and lock into 5 year Price Lock in June i suppose.

Free Gateway with Unlimited data already included would certainly be nice without paying extra.

SpottedCat

telcodad Comcast is plugging remote OLTs into optical nodes to support a targeted fiber-to-the-premises trial in Denver.

Hahaha, this is hilarious! I remember seeing photos of the inside of the newer nodes and the fact that they had several SFP+ sockets, and had wondered if they might use these to try to deploy fiber to customers.

Turns out they are! Of course, it’s not really that great; they’re still depending on power in the field unlike the completely passive PON networks deployed by AT&T and the like. But I guess it’s still better than dealing with coax and DOCSIS!

telcodad

telcodad
On the Light Reading site today:

Comcast vows to repair ‘disconnect’ with customers as broadband losses mount
Comcast lost a worse-than-expected 199,000 broadband subs in Q1. Comcast is trying to get the broadband biz humming again amid recent leadership shifts and a wave of new offers spanning both broadband and mobile.
By Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading - April 24, 2025
https://www.lightreading.com/cable-technology/comcast-vows-to-repair-disconnect-with-customers-as-broadband-losses-mount

:
Fixing a market ‘disconnect’

While Comcast gets high marks for speeds in what’s now a super-charged competitive environment, the operator is not seeing improvements in churn or acquisition even in its upgraded markets.

“We are not winning in the marketplace in a way that is commensurate with the strength of the network and connectivity products,” Comcast President Mike Cavanagh acknowledged today on the company’s Q1 earnings call.

He said Comcast has worked hard to understand the reasons for this “disconnect” and has discovered two primary friction points: price transparency and predictability, and a lack of ease in simply doing business with the operator.

“The good news is that both are fixable and we’re already underway with execution plans to address these challenges,” Cavanagh said. …

CommunityMember

videomatic3 wonder if companies can just say they are a phone company, run fiber to the house, then offer data later on to get around that somehow.

The problem is usually not what you call it, but the money to widely deploy it (it costs anywhere from $35k to well over $100K per mile for just a “passing” for aerial, roughly double for underground (location details always matter)). If you are willing to pay the build-out costs there is basically nowhere in the continental US you can’t get fiber if you own the property (the property owner, or HOA, may have different rules). The issue is that most people want someone else to pay for that build-out. ROI still matters and unless there is free money (RDOF/BEAD, which means someone else’s tax money money) the returns are still not there for many locations. Perhaps you should advocate that your jurisdiction declares fiber Internet to be a basic human right and deploys it to all (and, of course, increases the jurisdictions taxes to make it so).

httv97

telcodad

“and a lack of ease in simply doing business with the operator.”

Cackling. It all (eventually) comes around.

smilingbob

telcodad

He said Comcast has worked hard to understand the reasons for this “disconnect” and has discovered two primary friction points: price transparency and predictability, and a lack of ease in simply doing business with the operator.

They’ve finally been slapped into reality by recent competition. People are sick and tired of the pricing games, the promo BS, the cash-grab unlimited data scheme to screw over cord cutters. And yeah, the CS is just terrible (but Verizon might have em beat TBH). They’ve publicly touted ARPU as their focus going forward since they are losing so many subscribers, but their rack-rates are outrageous and non-competitive and their data cap pisses people off. I remember a supposed employee stating that the goal was to eventually make everyone pay rack-rate after the promo, and that they were addressing all the schemes that were defeating it (like the husband/wife/name change swap). Looks like they are finally being forced to reevaluate their long standing policies, but until they adopt a non-promo pricing structure that is reasonable, competitive, and has no data-cap BS people are going to vote with their wallet if they have a choice. The 5 year lock is fine and good but it’s still not addressing the core issues of why people hate Comcast.

Donut417

Man-of-Leisure How much money did the Biden Administration give ISP’s for upgrades? Not to mention I recall several states also funding upgrades.

Donut417

bigcoda Why can’t Xfinity offer a free gateway period,

What I find funny about that. I recall at one time they were using their gateways to expand their public hotspots. I believe they also use an SSID on the gateway for Xfinity voice. They literally could expand better support for both of those just by offering the gateway for free. They literally would probably have more people use their gateway which I assume is easier for them when it comes to troubleshooting issues. But this company is ran by a bunch of greedy fucks. Reminds me of 2008 when the banks gave any one a mortgage, regardless if you could afford it. Just because they were greedy.

meerkathalon

Donut417

Watch the video of Jon Stewart’s reaction to learning the insanely bureaucratic steps involved in that program. It’s such a shame because that money could make a huge difference for rural customers and isps stepped up big time (why wouldn’t they). It’s a big ol “see we passed xyz to help you! Vote for me”.

MacLeech

Donut417 How much money did the Biden Administration give ISP’s for upgrades? Not to mention I recall several states also funding upgrades.

Less for upgrades to the underserved (slower than 100/20) and more for expansion to the unserved (slower than 25/3), none to the areas with more than 100/20. The time frame for completion of those awards isn’t up yet. Inflation took out a few of the bidders after they won awards, with others get hit with fines for not hitting milestones, and/or handing back awarded locations and funding after it became uneconomical. I don’t think Comcast participated much, if at all, in RDOF. The feds awarded around $9.2 billion covering awards for 41 million customers. Further awards may be possible BUT it’s funded by USF which is going through court battles right now as it’s been deemed an illegal tax in control of a private company.
https://broadbandnow.com/report/rural-digital-opportunity-fund
https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/rocky-road-lies-ahead-rdof-money-drains-away

Charter was awarded the most RDOF money to a single company, almost $1.2 billion, just to service 1 million new customers, with an additional $3.8 billion of their own money. Charter was using the majority of it’s RDOF money to roll out DAA nodes with OLTs in them for PON FTTH for those 1 million new home passings it bid on.

BEAD money is still mostly up for grabs as states are still picking winners and the feds are still playing around with awarding the money. Most cable providers have stayed away from BEAD because of the multiple layers of bureaucracy make it unappealing.
https://nbam.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/48876d648f5f48208d7bd1dbe62801a0
https://broadbandusa.ntia.gov/funding-programs/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program
https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/bead-bonanza-disappears-from-vendors-2025-hopes

Man-of-Leisure

SpottedCat Hahaha, this is hilarious! I remember seeing photos of the inside of the newer nodes and the fact that they had several SFP+ sockets, and had wondered if they might use these to try to deploy fiber to customers.

This is only news to you if you haven’t been following DAA/4.0 news for the past several years.

This was always expected, and Charter even announced it in their investor presentation a few years ago.

Yes, FTTH is easily possible from 4.0 nodes.

Donut417 How much money did the Biden Administration give ISP’s for upgrades?

The money was for expanding into rural areas which are stuck with satellite, DSL, or nothing.

Not for upgrading coax areas to fiber.

bigcoda

Donut417 What I find funny about that. I recall at one time they were using their gateways to expand their public hotspots. I believe they also use an SSID on the gateway for Xfinity voice. They literally could expand better support for both of those just by offering the gateway for free. They literally would probably have more people use their gateway which I assume is easier for them when it comes to troubleshooting issues. But this company is ran by a bunch of greedy fucks. Reminds me of 2008 when the banks gave any one a mortgage, regardless if you could afford it. Just because they were greedy.

Exactly, I wouldn’t have no issue using there gateway. If they simply offered it for free with no strings attached, instead of trying to nickel and dime you. I know you can turn it off, but I’m not on board for providing a public hot spot.

telcodad

telcodad Comcast released its 1Q2025 financial results this morning, lost another 427,000 TV customers and 199,000 broadband customers:

Comcast Lost 427,000 TV Customers and 199,000 Internet Customers in Q1 2025 as Streaming Continues Overtaking Cable
By Jess Barnes, Cord Cutters News - April 24, 2025
https://cordcuttersnews.com/comcast-lost-427000-tv-customers-and-199000-internet-customers-in-q1-2025-as-streaming-continues-overtaking-cable/

Charter/Spectrum isn’t doing any better:

Spectrum Lost 181,000 TV Customers & 60,000 Internet Customers in Just 3 Months
by Luke Bouma, Cord Cutters News - April 25, 2025
https://cordcuttersnews.com/spectrum-lost-181000-tv-customers-60000-internet-customers-in-just-3-months/

telcodad

Comcast & Spectrum Are on Track to Lose Over 1 Million Internet Customers in 2025 as Cord Cutting 2.0 Grows
By Luke Bouma, Cord Cutters News - April 25, 2025
https://cordcuttersnews.com/comcast-spectrum-are-on-track-to-lose-over-1-million-internet-customers-in-2025-as-cord-cutting-2-0-grows/

The U.S. telecommunications industry is witnessing a seismic shift as cord-cutting, once primarily associated with cable TV, now threatens the broadband sector. Comcast and Charter Communications’ Spectrum, the nation’s two largest cable internet providers, are grappling with unprecedented subscriber losses. In the first quarter of 2025, Comcast reported a loss of 199,000 internet customers, while Spectrum shed 60,000, totaling a staggering 259,000 customers. This translates to approximately 2,800 people disconnecting their cable internet daily from these two providers alone. If current trends persist, industry analysts project that Comcast and Spectrum could collectively lose over 1 million internet subscribers by the end of 2025, a development that could reshape the broadband landscape. …

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