Comcast continues to face mounting pressures from fixed-wireless broadband Internet providers and streaming TV upstarts that are chipping away at its land-based Internet and traditional cable TV service.
The company’s second quarter (Q2) financial earnings for 2024 revealed Comcast lost 110,000 residential broadband Internet subscribers and around 10,000 enterprise Internet customers to end Q2 with just over 32.06 million Xfinity Internet customer accounts.
The number of accounts dropped slightly under 1 percent on a year-over basis. Comcast said its broadband average revenue per user, or ARPU, increased by 3.6 percent, but did not provide specific figures to that effect.
Despite seeing fewer customers in Q2, revenue from the residential broadband connections climbed 3 percent to $6.569 billion, while enterprise connections brought in an additional $2.421 billion in revenue, up 5.7 percent.
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Domestic wireless subscribers also increased to nearly 7.2 million lines, an increase of 322,000 compared to the prior quarter, Comcast revealed. The company resells access to Verizon’s 4G LTE and 5G wireless networks through a low-cost offering called Xfinity Mobile, which requires an eligible Xfinity Internet or Xfinity TV account to activate.
While interest in Xfinity Mobile remained strong, Comcast affirmed that competition from fixed wireless broadband and streaming platforms was continuing to cut into other parts of its business. Total customer relationships in the telecom business were down to 51.7 million accounts, a loss of 275,000 for the quarter. Higher churn and lower uptake in residential service were largely to blame for the loss, Comcast said in its earnings release.
“More broadly, I am excited about the growth opportunities ahead, as our teams innovate and collaborate to connect our customers, viewers and guests to the moments that matter,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement.
In its cable TV segment, Comcast saw more than 419,000 customers flee during Q2, with the company reporting 13.199 million residential and enterprise Xfinity TV subscribers by the end of June.
