Is the Broadband Market Mature?

Author: 
Coverage Type: 

Is the broadband industry reaching maturity? There was still significant growth in broadband over the last few years. In 2019, national broadband subscribers grew by 2.6%. That leaped to 4.5% in the 2020 pandemic year. In 2021, broadband growth slowed to 2.8% but rebounded to 3.3% in 2022. The 2022 growth rate is likely inflated by rural broadband growth, as practically all the overall industry growth for the year came from cellular fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband provided by T-Mobile and Verizon. What would a mature broadband market look like? It would first mean that annual subscriber growth would likely not be greater than the growth of total households. If overall growth permanently slows, all of the wrestling for market share will happen in the markets with both a cable company and a fiber competitor. But there is another possibility. In markets where Verizon FiOS has competed against a cable company for many years, the two sides have reached a duopoly equilibrium, meaning neither Verizon nor the cable company won the competition. In a duopoly market, the two big players are happy to maintain a relatively steady market share – and the equilibrium is fine with both competitors as long as it doesn’t get too badly skewed.


Is the Broadband Market Mature?