Charter loses more broadband customers in Q2 as competition heats up

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(Reuters) -Charter Communications reported a higher-than-expected broadband subscriber loss in the second quarter on Friday, as the cable giant grappled with competition from wireless carriers that are bundling high-speed internet services with 5G mobile plans.

Shares of the company fell more than 12% in early trading.

Charter’s internet customers decreased by 117,000 in the April-June period, compared with a 60,000 loss in the prior quarter. Analysts had expected it to shed 73,240 customers, according to Visible Alpha.

Traditional telecom carriers such as AT&T and Verizon are rapidly building out their fiber networks to package internet with wireless plans at a discount, which is appealing to high-value customers in urban and suburban markets.

AT&T has been aggressively expanding its fiber build and aims to reach more than 60 million fiber locations by the end of 2030, powered by the acquisition of Lumen’s mass markets fiber business.

Charter added 500,000 mobile lines, compared with expectations for a rise of 538,450 customers.

Rival Comcast is expected to report a quarterly decrease of 255,000 broadband customers, when it discloses the results on Thursday, according to FactSet data.

In May, Charter had agreed to acquire privately held rival Cox Communications for $21.9 billion. The deal would position Charter as the largest cable TV and broadband provider in the U.S., with around 38 million subscribers, surpassing the current market leader, Comcast.

Earlier this week, Charter and Comcast announced a multi-year agreement to establish a mobile virtual network operator that will use T-Mobile’s 5G network to serve wireless business customers, with a commercial launch set for 2026.

Charter’s second-quarter revenue came in at $13.77 billion, in line with analysts’ average estimate of $13.76 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)