Traditional Providers Losses, 1st Quarter 2024 Edition

Yeah, a lot of folks leaving cable broadband are switching to fixed 5G, although many to fiber.
Based on the numbers, 5G is getting a lot more subscribers then who is leaving the cable companies, I assume it is those leaving the dsl type services for 5G, doubtful it is rural areas because of the lack of towers ( myself included).
 
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Based on the numbers, 5G is getting a lot more subscribers then who is leaving the cable companies, I assume it is those leaving the dsl type services for 5G, doubtful it is rural areas because of the lack of towers ( myself included).
T-Mobile has expanded out into rural/small town areas a lot the past few years. I think a decent chunk of their fixed wireless subs are rural folks who had no other option (aside from maybe DSL, as you say). Some of those are getting T-Mo's fixed 4G and some are lucky enough to get their fixed 5G.
 
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T-Mobile has expanded out into rural/small town areas a lot the past few years. I think a decent chunk of their fixed wireless subs are rural folks who had no other option (aside from maybe DSL, as you say). Some of those are getting T-Mo's fixed 4G and some are lucky enough to get their fixed 5G.
As I said before, I am in a Rural Area, where they did not have Broadband till 2018 ( moved here in 2020), the only reason why it is available is Charter took the money from Florida and the US Government.

I do wonder how many new towers are going up with the grants T-Mobile and the rest of them receive, or is the money being used to service the towers already up.

I would not mind having 5G as a backup service, but the only way is if they build a new tower.
 
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Just read Comcast is about to do their second price increase of the year ( which has always been fees going up), first in SF, then of course it will be rolled out everywhere else ( all at different amounts)-

On April 1, 2024, Comcast released a new rate card and Cord Cutters News received a copy of the San Francisco rate card that shows local TV stations like ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC now cost $26.70 a month and local RSN costs are $18.75 a month. Put these two fees together and you pay $45.45 a month extra for the channels they advertise as a part of the TV package.

Over the course of a year local TV stations and RSNs will cost Comcast Xfinity TV customers in these areas $545.40 a year.

The fees don’t stop there. HD Technology fees cost $9.95 a month for the ability to watch the channel in HD. Want a DVR? That will be an additional $10 a month; premium DVR costs $20 a month; and an extra 150 hours of storage will cost $10 a month.


 
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I do wonder how many new towers are going up with the grants T-Mobile and the rest of them receive, or is the money being used to service the towers already up.

I would not mind having 5G as a backup service, but the only way is if they build a new tower.
I don't think all that much of the federal infrastructure money is going to fixed wireless. I've read that the federal rules strongly prefer a wired fiber or coax connection. But to the extent money is flowing for fixed wireless, it's absolutely to expand the existing network out into previously unserved areas, not to subsidize operations of existing 5G towers.

T-Mobile still doesn't have the same rural coverage that Verizon and AT&T have but they've closed the gap a lot in the past few years. They were the biggest winner of that 600 MHz spectrum that the FCC auctioned off from the upper end of the UHF TV range. 600 MHz travels long distances and penetrates walls well, so T-Mo was able to use that to really expand their reach out into the hinterlands. They've deployed both 4G and 5G on 600 MHz. There are still plenty of rural dwellers like you who can't get a T-Mo signal but a lot can, especially those who live anywhere close to an interstate or in small towns like county seats.

In the cities and suburbs, T-Mo has the best 5G network hands-down. They have a ton of sweet mid-band 2.5 GHz spectrum that they got from the Sprint acquisition and they've been busy building that out the last couple years. That has created a lot of excess capacity on the network beyond what mobile users need, so they're monetizing it via fixed 5G. At some point they'll have to stop taking new subs (or build out more capacity) because they don't have *endless* excess capacity. I noticed that just this month they announced that fixed 5G users may see their speeds throttled (de-prioritized) if they exceed a monthly data usage amount.
 
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T-Mobile has expanded out into rural/small town areas a lot the past few years. I think a decent chunk of their fixed wireless subs are rural folks who had no other option (aside from maybe DSL, as you say). Some of those are getting T-Mo's fixed 4G and some are lucky enough to get their fixed 5G.
Yep, thats me........Our cable internet is a joke, and dealing with them like a root canal! Now my T-Mobile sure isnt worth $50 because of the never knowing what speed you will get. But its the only thing that has worked semi decent.
 
I believe it give you a trial period of 2 weeks, so that you can return it if it does not work out.

The speed of your Charter connection might be related to your modem, what model is it.

I remember when I upgraded to Comcast’s 1G speed, I was only getting 300 down, that was because I needed a new modem.
My modem is the one that Spectrum sent to us in the mail. I am going to call and ask them about whether the modem makes any difference with the speeds. We also use their wi-fi tower. I can always downgrade to the lower speed and price since I am not getting the full 500 anyway.
 
My modem is the one that Spectrum sent to us in the mail. I am going to call and ask them about whether the modem makes any difference with the speeds. We also use their wi-fi tower. I can always downgrade to the lower speed and price since I am not getting the full 500 anyway.
Does it make sense to schedule a service call?
 
My modem is the one that Spectrum sent to us in the mail. I am going to call and ask them about whether the modem makes any difference with the speeds. We also use their wi-fi tower. I can always downgrade to the lower speed and price since I am not getting the full 500 anyway.

Does it make sense to schedule a service call?

It is at least worth calling them up to ask. My parents were getting only 100Mb on their Spectrum connection, despite paying for 300. After they complained, Spectrum sent out a tech with a new box, and things got a whole lot better. Part of that was the upgrade from N wireless to AC for wireless devices, but latency was cut in half as well, so everything just felt a little snappier, whether browsing the web or using streaming services.
 
I know it depends on market, but I wonder where the broadbanders are going?
Definitely 5G services and also fiber. i know a bunch of people in my town have abandoned Comcast for ATT Fiber or Sonic. Some have tried 5G, but fiber is so cheap, 5G is pretty price par.


Verizon is up first, lost 64,000 Fios pay TV customers, taking its total to 2.951 million, down 8.8% year-on-year.
Is Verizon even actively selling Fios TV anymore?
 
Is Verizon even actively selling Fios TV anymore?
They are still slowly expanding in limited areas:

 
Does it make sense to schedule a service call?
It wouldn't require a service call. Could get them to drop me back to just the lower starter price that gives you lower speed of 200 mpbs. Or they could renew my current deal for $60.00 for another year and I would get 500mpbs( but still only 300 mpbs for some reason). Hell Spectrum Cable when they came out the last two times - when I had a neighbor cut through the cable in the ground on their property , wouldn't even bury the new coax. I had to do it both times which was not fun. My neighbor on the end of the street still has orange coax all over his back utility area that was never buried. They wonder why people are dropping them.
 
It wouldn't require a service call. Could get them to drop me back to just the lower starter price that gives you lower speed of 200 mpbs. Or they could renew my current deal for $60.00 for another year and I would get 500mpbs( but still only 300 mpbs for some reason). Hell Spectrum Cable when they came out the last two times - when I had a neighbor cut through the cable in the ground on their property , wouldn't even bury the new coax. I had to do it both times which was not fun. My neighbor on the end of the street still has orange coax all over his back utility area that was never buried. They wonder why people are dropping them.
Orange coax! That denotes fiber...
 
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Orange coax! That denotes fiber...
Not necessarily. I have orange coax going to my house from Spectrum, and it is definitely just regular coax with an orange sheath. My brother, who had fiber service from Spectrum, had a black fiber running to his house
 
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Not necessarily. I have orange coax going to my house from Spectrum, and it is definitely just regular coax with an orange sheath. My brother, who had fiber service from Spectrum, had a black fiber running to his house
Yep, doing a bit of research shows me you are correct. It’s been 15 years since I was in that business so things might have changed.
 
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No, but it is still there for legacy customers.
They actually quietly introduced a new version, called Fios TV+, that's distributed as managed IPTV, not traditional QAM like regular Fios TV. It comes with a customized Android TV box. Verizon's long-term plan is reportedly to completely phase out QAM and go all-IP (as Comcast, Charter and Cox all appear set to do as well).


The new 2-gig-capable Fios ONT that they've been deploying in NYC and probably other areas by now does not support QAM TV, so if those folks want Fios TV, they have to get the new Fios TV+.

Honestly kind of surprised that they're still half-heartedly trying to keep it going at this point. I give it until 2026 or 2027 before Verizon announces that they're killing off Fios TV completely. It's now just under 3 million subs and keeps going down. And they've been actively selling YTTV for a few years now anyhow. Plus, pretty much everything will be available in some DTC package or another before long, with ESPN DTC rolling out in fall 2025.
 
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So with today, already at 956,000 who have left Paid Live TV from Traditional Providers.
Altice ( formerly Cablevision) lost 78,000 video subs ( also has losses in broadband).

So, with just 4 Providers reporting, video losses this quarter are at 1,034,000 with a lot left to report, for example, DirecTV has been averaging 500,000 lost every quarter the last 3 years, so we definitely are on a path to 2 million lost this quarter.

Cord Cutting is definitely not slowing down.

 
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Altice ( formerly Cablevision) lost 78,000 video subs ( also has losses in broadband).

So, with just 4 Providers reporting, video losses this quarter are at 1,034,000 with a lot left to report, for example, DirecTV has been averaging 500,000 lost every quarter the last 3 years, so we definitely are on a path to 2 million lost this quarter.

Cord Cutting is definitely not slowing down.
Fubo just announced-

Today the live TV streaming service Fubo reported its 1st quarter 2024 earnings that show it lost 107,000 subscribers in North America.

So with just 5 companies reporting, we are at 1,141,000 lost this quarter.

Big one reporting next week, Dish on May 8.
 
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