Spectrum Mobile crosses 1M-subscriber milestone; video sub losses rise

Charter Communications lost about 105,000 residential video customers in Q4, nearly three times the 36,000 it shed in the prior year, but broadband and wireless additions were strong in the period, driving healthy financial gains.

Charter added 313,000 residential broadband customers in Q4, ahead of the same period in 2018, when it added about 289,000. For the year, Charter added about 1.4 million residential and commercial broadband customers.

Spectrum Mobile, the cable operator’s wireless product, crossed the 1 million customer milestone in the period, adding 288,000 wireless subscribers in the quarter and 948,000 for the year, ending 2019 with 1.1 million mobile lines.

That customer growth helped drive a 4.7% quarterly increase in revenue for the period to $11.8 billion. Cash flow was up 8.8% to $4.5 billion in Q4.

"Our operating strategy continues to deliver strong results and in 2019, we created over 1.1 million new customer relationships, substantially more than in 2018. And we added over 1.4 million new Internet customers, also more than in 2018," Charter chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said in a press release. "As we look to 2020, we remain focused on driving customer growth by offering superior services and value to our customers, improving the efficiency of our operations, and delivering sustainable free cash flow growth, by driving EBITDA growth, while reducing capital intensity."