Top operators saw additions decelerate from 480,000 in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to latest Leichtman Research Group tally

The top 16 U.S. high-speed internet providers, covering 96% of the market, added 370,000 customers in the second quarter, off from the 480,000 added on a pro forma basis in the same period of 2018, according to new research from Leichtman Research Group.

The dip is an anomaly for now—customers growth metrics were up for landline broadband suppliers in the first quarter. Cable operators added 532,211 high-speed internet users in Q2, LRG said, about 90% of what they added in the same period of 2018.

“Telco” providers including AT&T, Verizon and Centurylink lost over 160,000 users in Q2 vs. a loss of 110,000 last year. The top eight cable operators now control more than 66% of U.S. broadband customers in the LRG tally.

Notably, over the last 12 months, the top broadband suppliers have added 2.52 million users vs. 2.27 million in the prior one-year period.

“With the addition of 370,000 subscribers in the quarter, top broadband providers in the U.S. cumulatively now account for nearly 100 million subscribers, including about 6% non-residential subscribers,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “On a pro forma basis, these top 16 broadband providers accounted for about 13.5 million broadband additions over the past five years, and 28.9 million net adds over the past ten years.”