Cable's Broadband Business an Industry Buoy During Pandemic, New Street Says

Cable operators have been adding residential broadband share for a decade, and the pace picked up during the pandemic, when people are highly reliant on the service, New Street Research's Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors Tuesday. He said that trend isn't expected to reverse. Residential trends will face some headwinds from the recession, as household formations slow, pay TV declines, business failures accelerate and advertising drops, the analyst said. Residential broadband should grow through the recession, and cable is well positioned to take advantage of that, he said. Charter Communications reported it added 119,000 internet subscribers in March due to its 60-day free offer for new customers with students or educators in the household. The cabler said residential internet connects, excluding the free offer, also were up this March over March 2019.