U.S. adds 700,000 broadband subscribers in 3Q 2014

About 700,000 add broadband in the third quarter of 2014

DURHAM, NH — Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that the seventeen largest cable and telephone providers in the US — representing about 94% of the market — acquired over 700,000 net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in the third quarter of 2014. These top broadband providers now account for 86.6 million subscribers — with top cable companies having over 51.2 million broadband subscribers, and top telephone companies having nearly 35.4 million subscribers.

Other broadband findings include:

• Overall, broadband additions in 3Q 2014 amounted to 135% of those in 3Q 2013
• The top cable companies accounted for 83% of the net broadband additions for the quarter versus the top telephone companies
• The top cable companies added about 580,000 subscribers, representing 133% of the net additions for the top cable companies in 3Q 2013
• The top telephone companies added about 120,000 broadband subscribers in 3Q 2014 — compared to a gain of about 80,000 in 3Q 2013
• Over the past year, there were about 2,930,000 net broadband adds — compared to about 2,540,000 over the prior year, and 2,925,000 two years ago

“Despite there being 86.6 million broadband subscribers in the US via major cable and Telco providers, the industry has added subscribers at a faster pace over the past year than it did over the prior year,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Over the past year, cable companies accounted for 86% of the 2.9 million net broadband adds.”

                                         Subscribers at    Net Adds
Broadband Internet                       End of 3Q 2014  in 3Q 2014
------------------                       --------------  ----------
Cable Companies
 Comcast                                     21,586,000    315,000
 Time Warner                                 12,073,000    108,000
 Charter                                      4,956,000    106,000
 Cablevision                                  2,756,000    (23,000)
 Suddenlink                                   1,135,500     32,200
 Mediacom                                       997,000     10,000
 WOW (WideOpenWest)*                            729,700          -
 Cable ONE                                      486,142      3,417
 Other Major Private Cable Companies**        6,505,000     30,000

Total Top Cable                              51,224,342    581,617

Telephone Companies
 AT&T                                        16,486,000     38,000
 Verizon                                      9,146,000     69,000
 CenturyLink                                  6,063,000      8,000
 Frontier^                                    1,922,000     21,500
 Windstream                                   1,142,000    (11,800)
 FairPoint                                      329,494     (3,927)
 Cincinnati Bell                                270,500        200

Total Top Telephone Companies                35,358,994    120,973
                                         --------------  ----------
Total Broadband                              85,583,336    702,590

Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc.
* Includes a small system sale, the Company did not report net adds on a pro forma basis
** Includes LRG estimates for Cox, and Bright House Networks
^ LRG estimate, does not include wireless subscribers
Company subscriber counts may not represent solely residential households
Totals reflect pro forma results from system sales and acquisitions
Top cable and telephone companies represent approximately 94% of all subscribers