The state of cable: three different trends in three different business lines
Although recently cable companies have felt pressure in some developed markets such as the US, globally, absolute cable subscriptions have grown across all three business lines and will continue to do so. By 2022, TV will remain by far the largest business line for cable operators with over 550m TV subscriptions worldwide, but cable broadband subscriptions are expected to experience faster growth - in relative terms - to around 250m subscriptions globally.
But when looking at cable’s market share as a technology we can see three different stories. In broadband, its market share is expected to remain generally stable with minimal relative growth, as FTTP replaces DSL. In telephony, due to the rapid decline of the fixed line market, cable will actually gain ground, and finally, with pay TV, its market share is expected to continue its slow decline as the popularity of telco-backed IPTV services takes its toll.
The Amp is our highly-acclaimed free weekly
round up of key industry news, delivered to
your inbox.
Sign up and be informed.