Cord cutters are cutting cable AND broadband internet at home

First it was cutting landline phones for mobile. Next, cord cutters dropped cable TV and opted for streaming devices. Now, in what Ovum researchers call “triple cord cutting,” we’re seeing people start to trim their broadband connections at home and use cell phones to do their online viewing.

“Cord-cutting started in landlines and gave way to cord-cutting in pay TV in the US. We are now entering the realm of triple cord-cutting.” — Kristin Paulin, Senior Analyst, Ovum research

Most telecommunications companies have been losing fixed phone service for years. A recent survey showed as many as 47% of respondents no longer use landlines in their homes. Cable and satellite companies have been watching subscriber counts decline as people cut the cord. ESPN alone has seen a loss of subscribers topping 7 million subscribers, according to its SEC filings and Nielsen Ratings as reported by Market Realist.

ESPN is fighting with Nielsen right now over a report ESPN lost another 621,000 subscribers in just one month this year.

Major telcos are seeing subscriber losses mount

AT&T and Windstream saw declines in broadband, cable and landlines in third quarter 2016. Frontier lost subscribers in landline and internet. Verizon has lost broadband subscribers in two quarters over the past year and a half.

With cord cutting going on, the thought for cable companies was that what they lost in cable bills would be more than made up by being a broadband provider. Now that may be in jeopardy as well.

“The decline of subscribers in telco core services is by no means a US-only trend. Fixed voice subscribers are declining in multiple countries tracked by Ovum worldwide. Fixed broadband and pay-TV declines are also beginning to make an appearance.”Kamalini Ganguly, Senior Analyst, Ovum research