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DSL Continues to Gain on Cable in U.S. Broadband Internet Market

6:30 am on May 22, 2006 | Category: Internet, Telecom Services

Recent studies have confirmed that DSL broadband services are steadily gaining market share, at the expense of the high-speed internet services offered by cable companies.

Leichtman Research Group says that American DSL providers added an impressive 1.66 million net subscribers in the first quarter of this year, representing 54% of new broadband subscribers in the U.S. This marks the sixth quarter in a row, in which telecom providers have outdone their cable rivals in the high-speed internet business.

Thatâ€™s not to say that cable companies are doing all that badly â€“ far from it with 1.4 million net subscriptions added in Q1 â€“ but a trend has emerged in which DSL providers like AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest, are consistently outdoing cable giants such as Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner.

With generally faster download speeds but somewhat higher prices, cable providers still have a respectable lead in the broadband market, with a total market share of 56%. Some studies indicate that this could change, however, with DSL offerings overtaking their cable counterparts by the end of this year.

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