The U.S. cable industry continued to strengthen its foothold in the mobile sector in Q4, with Charter, Comcast, and Altice USA collectively adding 876,000 lines. This brought their total to 18.16 million mobile lines, representing an all-time high of 15% of the mobile industry’s gross additions for the quarter.
Cable’s Mobile Expansion Hits a Milestone
The presence of cable companies in the mobile market grew significantly in Q4, with the top publicly traded operators surpassing 18 million total lines. Charter Communications, Comcast, and Altice USA accounted for 15% of the industry’s gross additions, according to MoffettNathanson’s latest analysis of the U.S. mobile sector.
While the 876,000 net mobile lines added in Q4 were slightly lower than the 890,000 added in the same period the previous year, the cable sector’s mobile footprint continues to expand. Verizon benefits as the MVNO provider for Comcast and Charter, although most of their wireless traffic is offloaded onto Wi-Fi. Meanwhile, T-Mobile sees a smaller impact as Altice USA’s MVNO partner.
The Impact of Cox and Other Cable Players
Cox Communications does not publicly report its mobile results, but according to MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett, if its numbers were included, cable’s total net additions would have been even higher year-over-year.
Beyond the major players, several small and midsized U.S. cable operators—such as WideOpenWest (WOW), Mediacom, Midco, Breezeline, TVS Cable, and Astound Broadband—are also entering the mobile space. WOW, the only publicly traded company in this group, has not yet disclosed the number of mobile lines it has added since launching its service nearly five years ago.
Cable’s Growing Influence in the Mobile Market
Though cable companies do not report mobile churn, Moffett estimates they captured over 15% of industry gross additions in Q4—the highest ever for this period. In comparison, T-Mobile led with 31.1% of net additions, followed by Verizon at 30.1% and AT&T at 22.8%. If Cox Communications were factored in, cable’s share would likely be even larger.
As the big three carriers contend with lower churn and declining upgrade rates, Moffett points out that competition from cable’s wireless bundles has become one of the industry’s biggest challenges.
What’s Next? Comcast’s Free Wireless Line Promotion
Looking ahead, Comcast’s new promotion—offering a free wireless line for a year to customers on its higher-speed broadband plans—could further disrupt the market. While it remains to be seen how this strategy will play out, Moffett suggests it has the potential to slow subscriber growth for the major incumbents even more.
With cable continuing to gain traction in the mobile space, the competitive landscape is shifting, and the impact on the traditional wireless giants will be one to watch in the coming months.
