Gitnux/Report 2026

Broadband Industry Statistics

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Broadband Industry Statistics
Samuel NorbergWritten by Samuel Norberg·Fact-checked by Maya Johansson
Published
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

An editor sets the topic, the inclusion criteria, and the evaluation framework before research starts.

02Source Research

AI search agents locate sources and extract each figure together with the document it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 39 days

01 Industry overview

The broadband industry at a glance

Broadband is expanding globally, with 9.5 billion mobile subscriptions and 21 fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 people in 2026, while affordability and regional access gaps remain significant.

9.5B[8]
Mobile subscriptions, 2026
21 per 100[8]
Fixed broadband penetration, 2026
40%[8]
5G share of mobile broadband, 2026
7.3 ZB[8]
Fixed broadband traffic, 2025
Market size
The global broadband market is best measured through connectivity volumes rather than a single comparable revenue total. ITU estimated 1.6 billion fixed-broadband subscriptions and 9.1 billion mobile subscriptions for 2025, while its 2026 update reports 21 fixed subscriptions per 100 inhabitants and 105 mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.[8]
Forecast & CAGR
ITU reports that fixed-broadband subscriptions grew at an average annual rate of 4.7% over the five years to 2026. No comparable global broadband-revenue CAGR from a primary statistical source was identified.[8]
Market share & regions
Fixed-broadband penetration in 2025 ranged from 39 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in high-income economies to 0.6 in low-income economies. Regional fixed penetration was highest in Europe at 37 per 100 inhabitants, compared with 1 in Africa.[8]
Segmentation
Broadband is segmented into fixed and mobile access, with fixed services further differentiated by fiber, cable, DSL and fixed wireless access. In the OECD area, fixed wireless access represented 5.8% of fixed-broadband subscriptions in the fourth quarter of 2025, after increasing fivefold over the preceding decade.[67]
Key players & concentration
Competition varies substantially by country and technology, with national market shares often masking strong local concentration. In Colombia, smaller ISPs increased their combined fixed-broadband share from 16.9% in the first quarter of 2018 to 22.5% in 2025, although local-level concentration remained intense.[67]
Pricing
In 2026, the global median price of the ITU fixed-broadband basket was 2.3% of gross national income per capita, down from 2.5% in 2025; the mobile data-only basket fell to 1.2%. Affordability remains weakest in low-income economies, where fixed broadband cost 25.3% of GNI per capita in 2026.[8]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Data demand is shifting toward high-capacity networks: fixed broadband traffic reached 7.3 zettabytes in 2025, nearly five times mobile broadband traffic of 1.5 zettabytes. Mobile traffic nevertheless grew faster, averaging 19% annually since 2021 versus 16% for fixed traffic, while deployment costs, weak electricity infrastructure and affordability constrain expansion.[8]
Consumer behavior & competition
Mobile broadband represented 92% of all mobile subscriptions in 2026, reflecting the shift from voice-only plans toward data-based services. Usage remains highly unequal: average monthly mobile traffic was 20 GB per subscription in high-income countries in 2026, compared with 3.4 GB in low-income countries.[8]
M&A
A notable recent transaction is the authorised merger of Colombia’s Tigo and Movistar, involving two mid-sized mobile network operators. Colombia’s competition authority approved the deal with remedies on November 13, 2025, and implementation was subsequently under way.[67]
Regulation
In the United States, the FCC’s 2026 National Broadband Map reported that more than 96% of locations, or 112 million locations, had access to terrestrial fixed service of at least 100/20 Mbps. The FCC also reported 96.8% location coverage for mobile 5G service at a minimum of 7/1 Mbps.[50]
Latest news
The ITU’s November 3, 2026 Facts and Figures release estimated that 74% of the world’s population, or 6.1 billion people, were online in 2025. It also reported that 5G reached 59% of the global population in 2026, while coverage was only 4% in low-income countries.[8]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Broadband Industry

The leading companies in the broadband industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 10, 2026 · Next review December 10, 2026

Verdict

Huawei leads Gitnux's 2026 broadband ranking with an Overall score of 9.3, with Huawei helped more than 50 carriers launch fiber-to-the-room broadband packages in 2025. América Móvil is the highest-ranked broadband network operator at 9.0, driven by América Móvil being the leading integrated telecommunications services company in Latin America.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in fiber access equipment

    Huawei

    CN

    Ranked #1 · 9.3 · Fiber access equipment

    Why we picked it: It supports fiber access delivery via fiber-to-the-room packages, backed by work with 50+ carriers in 2025.

    See in ranking ↓Visit huawei.com ↗

  2. Leader in broadband operator services

    América Móvil

    MX

    Ranked #2 · 9.0 · Broadband operator services

    Why we picked it: Its broadband footprint sits inside an integrated telecommunications services setup across Latin America.

    See in ranking ↓Visit americamovil.com ↗

  3. Leader in home terminals

    ZTE

    CN

    Ranked #5 · 8.9 · Home terminals

    Why we picked it: It ties broadband access ecosystems to consumer premises hardware, with 100M+ home terminal shipments in 2025.

    See in ranking ↓Visit zte.com.cn ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Picks 2 and 3 are the highest-ranked companies in the top 5 that add a new segment.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the broadband industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

Huawei

Fiber access equipment · CN

9.3
2

América Móvil

Broadband operator services · MX

9.0
3

Nokia

Fiber access equipment · FI

9.0
4

Deutsche Telekom

Broadband operator services · DE

8.9
5

ZTE

Home terminals · CN

8.9
6

China Mobile

Mobile and wireline broadband, China · CN

8.8
7

Ericsson

Mobile and fixed broadband network infrastructure · SE

8.6
8

Vodafone

Fixed and mobile broadband, Europe and Africa · GB

8.3
9

NTT

Fiber and mobile broadband, Japan and global markets · JP

8.1
10

China Unicom

Fixed and mobile broadband, China · CN

7.8

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).
  • Performance (20%): recent revenue growth and operating margin; an analyst assessment where a company does not publish them.
  • Momentum (20%): growth trajectory and future potential.
  • Innovation (15%): R&D intensity and how technologically advanced the company is.

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 10, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Top 10 companies in the broadband industry. In Broadband Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/broadband-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Comparison

Share of fibre subscriptions in total fixed broadband subscriptions (OECD)

Share of fibre subscriptions in total fixed broadband subscriptions: 30% in 2020, 50.7% in 2025.

202550.7%
202447%
202342%
202237%
202133%
202030%
source-verifiedoecd.org2025

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

Operators record rapid AI adoption but also report difficulty scaling generative-AI use cases, citing outdated architectures and fragmented data.

AI in the broadband industry

  • 282 generative-AI implementations by telecom operators were recorded globally by November 2024, involving 69 operators.[1]
  • 90% of telecom companies used AI in 2024, with 48% piloting it and 41% actively deploying it, according to an NVIDIA study of the industry.[2]
  • 174 publicly announced telecom AI contracts focused on network operations and management during 2019–2025, according to Omdia tracking.[3]
  • Nearly 300 publicly announced AI-related contracts had been awarded by telecom operators since 2019, according to Omdia’s tracker.[3]
  • 0.16% of revenue was the average AI and generative-AI spending level reported by participating telcos in 2023.[4]
  • 60% of communications service providers said AI would improve network operational efficiency by at least 40% in a 2024 global survey.[5]

Automation in the broadband industry

  • 10% of telecommunications IT events were resolved through automation in the 2024 Kyndryl readiness study.[6]
  • 61 senior network-engineering, research-and-development and operations decision-makers at telecom operators participated in Omdia’s 2024 network-automation survey.[7]
  • AI tools using network data enable telecom operators to automate network operations and service assurance, according to the ITU’s 2024 broadband report.[8]

Digital Transformation in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • 72% of telecommunications executives reported difficulty implementing and scaling generative-AI use cases, citing outdated architectures and fragmented data; survey across 24 countries, 2024.[9]
  • Telco IT spending rose to 6.9% of revenue in 2023, from 6.6% in 2022, among European telecommunications operators surveyed by TeBIT.[4]
  • About 20% of telecommunications companies qualified as leaders in data transformation, having established intelligent, agile and scalable data estates; survey across 24 countries, 2024.[9]
  • Close to 80% of telecommunications executives said their companies were not ready to become data-first, AI-driven organizations, despite expecting data and AI to transform their businesses within three years; global survey, 2024.[9]

Technology Adoption in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • Telecommunications operators expected to upskill 10% of employees in artificial-intelligence knowledge and use during 2024; European TeBIT survey.[4]
  • European telecommunications operators ranked in the third-highest AI-maturity category, AI scaling, while no surveyed operator reached the highest category, AI future-built; TeBIT survey, 2024.[4]
  • Telecommunications operators expected 1.27% of their workforce to be dedicated to AI and generative AI by the end of 2024, up from 1.0% in 2023; European TeBIT survey.[4]
  • Telecommunications operators allocated 0.16% of revenue to artificial intelligence and generative AI in 2023, compared with 0.49% for the global telecom industry and 0.42% cross-sector.[4]
  • European telecommunications operators expected AI and generative-AI spending to reach 0.24% of revenue in 2024 before declining to 0.20% in 2025; TeBIT survey.[4]

Cloud Computing in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • 26% of telecommunications respondents identified bundled networking, security and cloud services under one pricing package as a primary factor in business-customer adoption; survey across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, 2025.[10]
  • 42% of communications service providers hosting business-customer workloads believed rising AI demand would shift workloads from private clouds to telco edge clouds; survey across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, 2025.[10]
  • 55% of telecommunications respondents said business customers would choose telco cloud services because of their location at the network edge; survey across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, 2025.[10]
  • 29% of telecommunications respondents used telco clouds to host communications-service-provider services, particularly data services; survey across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, 2025.[10]
  • 47% of telecommunications respondents identified hosting workloads as their top motivation for operating a telco cloud, including 25% focused on business-customer workloads and 22% on third-party applications; 2025.[10]

Big Data in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • 96% of telecommunications executives rated their companies as low-to-medium maturity in data transformation, including data quality and consistency, while 4% rated them highly mature; survey across 24 countries, 2024.[9]
  • 52% of telecommunications executives expected data and AI transformation to have a high-to-disruptive impact on net promoter scores; survey across 24 countries, 2024.[9]
  • 84% of telecommunications executives rated their companies as low-to-medium maturity in data infrastructure, while 16% rated them highly mature; survey across 24 countries, 2024.[9]
  • 82% of telecommunications executives rated their companies as low-to-medium maturity in data strategy and governance, while 18% rated them highly mature; survey across 24 countries, 2024.[9]
  • 90% of telecommunications executives rated their companies as low-to-medium maturity in data architecture, while 10% rated them highly mature; survey across 24 countries, 2024.[9]

IoT in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • 74% of surveyed enterprises included 5G Reduced Capability or enhanced Reduced Capability in their IoT deployment road maps; Verizon survey, 2025.[11]
  • 66% of surveyed organizations already had a cellular IoT deployment operational; Verizon survey of 500 companies, 2025.[11]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Data quality and timeliness show up as operational constraints, with 100% of operators reporting business impacts from inaccurate physical network data.

Business intelligence in the broadband industry

  • 97% of surveyed telecommunications professionals were assessing or adopting AI in operations in 2024, including for customer experience, productivity, network operations and cost reduction.[12]
  • 33% of surveyed telecommunications professionals prioritized AI for field-operations optimization in 2024.[12]
  • 37% of surveyed telecommunications professionals prioritized AI for network planning and operations in 2024.[12]
  • 67% of cable and broadband providers accelerated self-service project timelines in a 2020 industry survey.[13]
  • 49% of surveyed telecommunications professionals were actively using AI in operations in 2024.[12]
  • 56% of cable and broadband providers accelerated network-monitoring project timelines in a 2020 industry survey.[13]

Data analytics in the broadband industry

  • 14.9% is the projected 2025–2030 compound annual growth rate for the global telecom-analytics market.[14]
  • 33% of surveyed telecommunications professionals named field-operations optimization an AI investment priority in 2024.[12]
  • 322.8 kilobits per second per internet user was the global international bandwidth usage in 2024, more than double the 2020 level.[8]
  • 39.2% was North America’s share of global telecom-analytics-market revenue in 2024.[14]
  • 1.78 terabits per second was total global international bandwidth usage in 2024, nearly 150% higher than in 2020.[8]
  • 97% of surveyed telecommunications professionals were assessing or adopting AI in 2024, creating demand for network, customer and operational data analytics.[12]

Data Quality in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across telecommunications, 48% of operators still used paper notes in the field that were manually entered into digital network systems later in 2026.[15]
  • Across telecommunications, 7% of operators said network-data updates occurred immediately after field work, while 49% said updates occurred within one week in 2026.[15]
  • Across telecommunications, 100% of operators reported business impacts from inaccurate physical network data during the previous 12 months in 2026, including delays and valuation risks.[15]
  • Across telecommunications, 78% of operators said network-asset data quality had a critical or major influence on merger-and-acquisition valuations in 2026.[15]
  • Across telecommunications, 71% of operators identified project and service-activation delays as the most common impact of inaccurate physical network data in 2026.[15]
  • Across telecommunications, 13% of operators said more than three-quarters of their network records were accurate in 2026, based on 500 senior decision-makers in the US, Canada and UK.[15]

Data Governance in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across telecommunications, 80% of operators ranked telecoms experience and cost among their three most important criteria when selecting data-platform providers in 2025.[16]
  • Across telecommunications, 21% of operators reported using a mixture of integrated architecture and siloed data management in 2025.[17]
  • Across telecommunications, 21 of 26 operators surveyed expected to increase data-platform investment during the following three years in 2025.[16]
  • Across telecommunications, 41% of operators reported an end-to-end data architecture integrating all departments, while 38% managed data in separate departmental silos in 2025.[17]
  • Across telecommunications, more than 60% of operators planning higher data-platform spending expected increases of 1% to 10% over the next three years in 2025.[16]
  • Across telecommunications, 58% of operators surveyed worldwide had fully deployed one or two data platforms in 2025, according to a survey of 26 operators.[16]

KPIs in the broadband industry

  • 58% of UK broadband customers were satisfied with complaint handling in 2024.[18]
  • 2.22% was Frontier’s average monthly consumer copper-broadband churn in 2024.[19]
  • 3% was the increase in Frontier’s consumer fiber-broadband ARPU in 2024, reaching $65.54 per month.[19]
  • 43% of TDS residential broadband customers subscribed to 1-gigabit-or-higher services at December 31, 2025.[20]
  • 55% of U.S. broadband customers selected services between 100 Mbps and 940 Mbps in 2024.[21]
  • $65.77 was TDS residential revenue per broadband connection in 2025, compared with $64.99 in 2024.[20]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Fiber availability and network build-out continue to expand, while fixed-broadband traffic averages 311 GB per subscription per month in 2024.

Growth in the broadband industry

  • AT&T added 1.2 million fiber locations in the United States between 2024H2 and 2025H1.[22]
  • Non-Tier 1 providers accounted for about 40% of cumulative North American FTTH deployment in 2025.[23]
  • AT&T had 16.0 million broadband connections at December 31, 2025, up from 15.3 million one year earlier.[24]
  • Canada had fiber available to nearly 75% of homes in 2025.[23]
  • Nearly 100 million North American homes were passed by FTTH networks in 2025.[23]
  • AT&T had 10.4 million fiber consumer wireline broadband customers at December 31, 2025, adding 1.1 million during the year.[24]

Differentiation in the broadband industry

  • Low-income countries averaged 202 GB of fixed-broadband traffic per subscription per month in 2024.[8]
  • Global fixed-broadband traffic averaged 311 GB per subscription per month in 2024.[8]
  • 14% of United Kingdom properties with full fibre available for one year or less had taken a full-fibre service in 2025.[18]
  • Low-income countries averaged 2 GB of mobile-broadband traffic per subscription per month in 2024.[8]
  • Global mobile-broadband traffic averaged 14 GB per subscription per month in 2024.[8]
  • 55% of United Kingdom properties with full fibre available for more than three years had taken a full-fibre service in 2025.[18]

Mergers and acquisitions in the broadband industry

  • 8.1 million fiber locations were reported for Verizon, Frontier and Starry after accounting for disclosed M&A activity in 2025.[22]
  • 8.1 million locations were attributed to Verizon, Frontier and Starry through disclosed U.S. broadband M&A activity in 2025.[22]
  • 33.8 million total locations were reported for AT&T plus CenturyLink fiber after accounting for disclosed U.S. broadband M&A activity in 2025.[22]
  • 7.1 million locations were attributed to Charter plus Cox through disclosed U.S. broadband M&A activity in 2025.[22]
  • 34.8 million total locations were reported for Charter plus Cox after accounting for disclosed U.S. broadband M&A activity in 2025.[22]
  • 3.0 million fiber locations were attributed to AT&T plus CenturyLink through disclosed U.S. broadband M&A activity in 2025.[22]

Strategic partnerships in the broadband industry

  • 76 internet service providers partnered with Broadband Infraco to operate 6,312 community Wi-Fi hotspots in South Africa in 2025.[25]
  • 2.3 million fiber locations were reported for the Metronet and T-Mobile combination in 2025H1.[22]
  • 590,300 fiber locations were added by Metronet and T-Mobile between 2024H2 and 2025H1.[22]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Workforce intensity varies, with AT&T stating only 5% of jobs required a four-year degree in 2026 and technicians hiring planned during 2026.

Hiring in the broadband industry

  • Only 5% of AT&T jobs required a four-year degree in 2026, according to the company’s workforce announcement.[26]
  • Approximately 50,000 U.S. telecommunications-sector jobs were lost between 2022 and 2025, according to Deloitte’s communications-infrastructure analysis.[27]
  • AT&T planned to hire thousands of technicians in the United States during 2026 to build and maintain telecommunications infrastructure.[26]
  • 11,734 apprentices were served by the U.S. telecommunications industry in 2024, an 82% increase over five years.[28]
  • 29% fewer telecommunications workers were recorded in the United States in January 2024 than in January 2014.[29]

Employee retention in the broadband industry

  • 14% was Ericsson’s employee-turnover rate in 2022.[30]
  • 16% was Telefónica’s employee-turnover rate in 2024, representing 15,725 employees who left the company.[31]
  • The combined workforce of the 20 largest global telecom operators fell from 1.8 million employees in 2015 to 1.3 million in 2024.[32]
  • 8.3% to 31.3% was the reported employee-turnover range among 22 telecommunications-services companies in fiscal 2025.[33]
  • Vodafone reported an employee-turnover rate as a workforce metric in fiscal 2024 while maintaining a global workforce of approximately 100,000 people.[34]

Remote Work in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • At TTEC, approximately 50% of global employees worked remotely in 2025, while the remaining 50% worked onsite.[35]
  • At Kyivstar, 77% of employees were permitted to work in hybrid or remote capacities in 2024.[36]
  • Across telecommunications employers, 41% permitted fully remote working and relocation beyond commuting distance in 2024, compared with 34% across all sectors.[37]
  • Across technology and telecommunications companies, 5% of corporate employees were expected to work fully remotely in 2024, according to surveyed CEOs globally.[38]

Hybrid Work in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • In the UK information and communication industry, 49% of businesses reported hybrid working during December 2023.[39]
  • Across Cisco’s surveyed workforce, 45% reported hybrid working, defined as one to four office days per week, in 2025.[40]
  • Across technology and telecommunications companies, 30% of corporate employees were expected to work in a hybrid arrangement in 2024, according to surveyed CEOs globally.[38]
  • Across a global survey of enterprise employees considering telecom-enabled hybrid work, 54% reported some autonomy over their work location and 36% reported total autonomy in 2024.[41]

Upskilling in the broadband industry

  • 88% of Ericsson employees received performance and career-development reviews in 2024.[30]
  • Over 74% of Vodafone employees and 91% of managers completed global withstander training in fiscal 2024.[34]
  • 1,989,904 training hours were delivered by Telefónica in 2025.[31]
  • 25.1 average training hours per employee were recorded by Ericsson in 2024.[30]
  • 76% of Telefónica employees invested in learning and developing new skills in 2025.[31]

Employee Engagement in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • At Deutsche Telekom, the Group engagement score was 77 points on a 0–100 scale in 2025, excluding T-Mobile US.[42]
  • At NBN Co, the overall employee engagement score was 77% in June 2024, based on a survey with a 90% participation rate.[43]
  • At Chunghwa Telecom, 95.15% of surveyed employees identified with and were actively engaged in their work during 2025.[44]
  • At AT&T, the employee engagement score was 79% in 2025 across its global workforce.[45]
  • At Vodafone, the employee engagement index was 75% in 2025 across the Group.[46]

DEI in the broadband industry

  • 2,803 people with disabilities were employed by Telefónica at December 31, 2025.[31]
  • 14.5% was Deutsche Telekom’s average unadjusted gender pay gap in 2024.[42]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Churn and satisfaction signals vary by technology and speed tier, including Frontier’s 0.68% churn for higher-speed customers among surveyed rural providers.

Customer experience in the broadband industry

  • 87% of TV and internet provider promoters said they were likely to purchase more from their provider in 2023.[47]
  • Astound Broadband received a 65% satisfaction score in a 2024 U.S. internet customer survey.[48]
  • 83% of TV and internet provider promoters said they trusted their provider in 2023.[47]
  • J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. residential internet study measured satisfaction across seven dimensions, including reliability, value, digital tools and complaint resolution.[49]
  • 76% of customer-experience practitioners reported using NPS as a core metric in 2024, including practitioners serving the TV and ISP sector.[47]

Customer retention in the broadband industry

  • 2.22% was Frontier’s average monthly consumer copper broadband churn rate in 2024.[19]
  • 1.36% was Frontier’s consumer fiber broadband churn rate in 2024.[19]
  • 0.68% was the subscriber churn rate for higher-speed-tier customers among 84 rural broadband providers surveyed by NRTC.[50]
  • 45% of ISP respondents reported annual churn below 3% in Preseem’s 2025 ISP Network Report.[51]
  • 1.14% was the subscriber churn rate for lower-speed-tier customers among 84 rural broadband providers surveyed by NRTC.[50]

Customer acquisition in the broadband industry

  • 42% of wireless-and-internet paid-search leads converted during the call in Invoca’s 2026 telecom benchmark.[52]
  • 40% of wireless-and-internet answered calls from Google Business Profiles were leads in Invoca’s 2026 telecom benchmark.[52]
  • 54,000 consumer copper broadband customers were lost by Frontier in the fourth quarter of 2024.[53]
  • 92,000 consumer fiber broadband net additions were reported by Frontier in the fourth quarter of 2024.[53]
  • 38,000 consumer broadband net additions were reported by Frontier in the fourth quarter of 2024.[53]

Customer loyalty in the broadband industry

  • 6 times as likely to trust their provider were TV and internet provider promoters compared with detractors in 2023.[47]
  • 45% of TV and internet provider passives said they trusted their provider in 2023.[47]
  • 55% of TV and internet provider passives said they were likely to purchase more from their provider in 2023.[47]
  • 4.9 times as likely to purchase more were TV and internet provider promoters compared with detractors in 2023.[47]
  • 5.8 times as likely to forgive a mistake were TV and internet provider promoters compared with detractors in 2023.[47]

Lead generation in the broadband industry

  • 36% of answered calls from TV and video were leads for cable-and-satellite businesses in Invoca’s 2026 telecom benchmark.[52]
  • 28% of answered calls from Google Business Profiles were leads for cable-and-satellite businesses in Invoca’s 2026 telecom benchmark.[52]
  • 29% of answered calls from paid search were leads for cable-and-satellite businesses in Invoca’s 2026 telecom benchmark.[52]
  • 35% of answered calls from organic search were leads for cable-and-satellite businesses in Invoca’s 2026 telecom benchmark.[52]
  • 23% of answered calls from display advertising were leads for cable-and-satellite businesses in Invoca’s 2026 telecom benchmark.[52]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Digital acquisition and app usage sit alongside brand value metrics, with $52.53 billion AT&T telecom brand value reported for 2025.

Marketing in the broadband industry

  • 62% of telecom marketers planned to increase digital display and video spending in the second half of 2024.[54]
  • 52% of telecom marketers planned to increase search spending in the second half of 2024.[54]
  • 25% of telecom marketers planned to increase radio or audio spending in the second half of 2024.[54]
  • 65% of telecom marketers planned to increase social-platform spending in the second half of 2024.[54]
  • 42% of telecom marketers planned to increase retail-media spending in the second half of 2024.[54]

Digital marketing in the broadband industry

  • 15.0% of United Kingdom internet users downloaded or used a branded mobile app during the month measured in the third quarter of 2024.[55]
  • $709 was the average digital-ad spend per internet user in the United Kingdom in 2024, in a digital-marketing report covering internet users and telecom audiences.[55]
  • 11.0% of United Kingdom internet users clicked or tapped on a sponsored social-media post during the month measured in the third quarter of 2024.[55]
  • 59.1% of United Kingdom internet users researched brands online before making a purchase in the third quarter of 2024.[55]
  • 9.0% of United Kingdom internet users clicked or tapped on a website banner advertisement during the month measured in the third quarter of 2024.[55]

Branding in the broadband industry

  • $24.361 billion was Spectrum’s telecom brand value in 2025.[56]
  • $52.53 billion was AT&T’s telecom brand value in 2025.[56]
  • $72.3 billion was Verizon’s telecom brand value in 2025.[57]
  • 14% was the year-over-year growth in the combined value of the top 10 telecom-provider brands in 2025.[58]
  • $29.459 billion was Xfinity’s telecom brand value in 2025.[56]

Social media in the broadband industry

  • 74% of telecommunications respondents sourced social-media data in Bright Data’s 2024 survey.[59]
  • 27% of telecom marketers planned to decrease social-platform spending in the second half of 2024.[54]
  • 33% of wireless-and-internet answered calls from paid social were leads in Invoca’s 2026 telecom benchmark.[52]
  • 69% of telecom marketers planned to maintain social-platform spending in the second half of 2024.[54]
  • 86% of telecommunications respondents said public web data was critical to their organization’s future in 2024.[59]

Influencer Marketing in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • Boost Mobile’s geo-targeted influencer campaign delivered 37% higher omnichannel return on advertising spend in the United States in 2025.[60]
  • Boost Mobile’s New York influencer campaign produced 1.1 million impressions in the United States in 2025.[60]
  • Plush recorded a 160% increase in post-paid subscription activations after its TikTok influencer campaign in Poland in 2025.[61]
  • Boost Mobile’s New York influencer campaign achieved a 4.3% engagement rate in the United States in 2025, four times the stated industry benchmark.[60]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Deployment and availability data governance remains active in the US, where the FCC initiated 7 audits by December 2024 for accuracy and verification.

Process optimization in the broadband industry

  • 18.6% year-over-year growth in AT&T Consumer Wireline EBITDA was reported in Q1 2025, reaching $1.298 billion in the United States.[35]
  • 35% growth in Optimum mobile lines was achieved by the end of 2025, indicating increased use of a converged broadband-and-mobile operating model in the United States.[35]
  • 10 consecutive quarters of positive broadband net adds were reported by AT&T Consumer Wireline in Q4 2025, supported by fiber and Internet Air growth in the United States.[35]
  • 5.8% year-over-year reduction in operating expenses was reported by AT&T Business Wireline in Q1 2025, partly attributed to transformation initiatives and lower network-access costs in the United States.[35]
  • 5.1% year-over-year growth in AT&T Consumer Wireline operating revenue was recorded in Q1 2025, while operating expenses rose 1.1% in the United States.[35]

Operational efficiency in the broadband industry

  • 38.8% adjusted EBITDA margin was reported by Optimum for full-year 2025, reflecting broadband operating performance in the United States.[35]
  • 41.3% adjusted EBITDA margin was reported by Optimum in Q4 2025 in the United States.[35]
  • 5.1% reduction in AT&T Consumer Wireline operating expenses was reported in Q4 2025, to $3.027 billion in the United States.[35]
  • 38.4% EBITDA margin was reported by AT&T Consumer Wireline in Q4 2025, up from 35.2% a year earlier in the United States.[35]
  • 36.9% EBITDA margin was reported by AT&T Consumer Wireline in Q1 2025, up from 32.7% a year earlier in the United States.[35]

Quality management in the broadband industry

  • 7 audits had been initiated by the FCC by December 2024 to improve broadband availability-data accuracy and verification in the United States.[62]
  • 22.2% of surveyed U.S. rural broadband providers reported procurement delays or difficulties affecting network deployment in 2025.[63]
  • 56.1% of surveyed U.S. rural broadband providers experiencing procurement challenges reported delayed network construction in 2025.[63]
  • 10.0% of surveyed U.S. rural broadband providers reported procurement delays of seven to ten months in 2025.[63]
  • 15.0% of surveyed U.S. rural broadband providers reported procurement delays of less than three months in 2025.[63]

Supply chain in the broadband industry

  • 15.0% of surveyed U.S. rural broadband providers reported supply delays lasting less than three months in 2025.[63]
  • 38.4% of surveyed U.S. rural broadband providers reported procurement delays or difficulties in 2023.[63]
  • 13.6% of surveyed U.S. rural broadband providers reported procurement delays or difficulties in 2024.[63]
  • 43.9% of U.S. rural broadband providers facing supply delays reported delayed service installations at customer premises in 2025.[63]
  • 36.6% of U.S. rural broadband providers facing supply delays reported longer replacement times for aging equipment in 2025.[63]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the telecommunications sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across European telecommunications, 55% of outsourced services remained domestic, based on EY data covering 2013.[64]
  • Across telecommunications, 21% of IT leaders planned to increase nearshoring spend over the following 12 months in the 2018 survey.[38]
  • Across telecommunications, 17% of IT leaders planned to increase offshoring spend over the following 12 months in the 2018 survey.[38]
  • Across telecommunications, 26% of IT leaders planned to increase onshoring spend over the following 12 months in the 2018 survey.[38]
  • Across European telecommunications, 22% of outsourced services were nearshored and 23% were moved to more distant offshore locations, based on 2013 data.[64]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Price pressure shows in affordability baskets, with the 2026 global median fixed-broadband basket at 2.3% of GNI per capita.

Pricing strategy in the broadband industry

  • $72.85 was AT&T fiber average revenue per user in Q1 2025, up 6.2% year over year in the United States.[35]
  • $70.89 was AT&T Consumer Wireline broadband average revenue per user in Q4 2025, up 1.7% year over year in the United States.[35]
  • $70.87 was AT&T Consumer Wireline broadband average revenue per user in Q1 2025, up 7.4% year over year in the United States.[35]
  • €21.91 was the 2024 EU price for the cheapest standalone fixed broadband offer in the 200–999 Mbps speed tier.[65]
  • €46 was the median monthly price of fixed-wireless broadband plans across 50 EU and OECD markets in the first half of 2025.[66]

Cost reduction in the broadband industry

  • $2.0 million of lower property and other taxes contributed to Nextlink's operating-expense reduction in 2025 in the United States.[35]
  • $23.3 million of lower programming and franchise costs contributed to Nextlink's operating-expense reduction in 2025 in the United States.[35]
  • 5.8% year-over-year reduction in AT&T Business Wireline operating expenses was reported in Q1 2025 in the United States.[35]
  • 5.1% year-over-year reduction in AT&T Consumer Wireline operating expenses was reported in Q4 2025 in the United States.[35]
  • 27.7% year-over-year reduction in Optimum's quarterly cash capital expenditures was reported in Q4 2025, to $282.1 million in the United States.[35]

Profitability in the broadband industry

  • $1.370 billion was AT&T Consumer Wireline EBITDA in Q4 2025, with a 38.4% EBITDA margin in the United States.[35]
  • CHF 96.2 million was Sunrise operating income in 2025, down 8.4% from 2024 in Switzerland.[35]
  • $1.298 billion was AT&T Consumer Wireline EBITDA in Q1 2025, with a 36.9% EBITDA margin in the United States.[35]
  • $902.2 million was Optimum's adjusted EBITDA in Q4 2025, with a 41.3% margin in the United States.[35]
  • $1.607 billion was EchoStar's broadband operating loss in 2025, compared with a $117.9 million loss in 2024 in the United States.[35]

Financial planning in the broadband industry

  • $282.1 million was Optimum's Q4 2025 cash capital expenditure, representing 12.9% quarterly capital intensity in the United States.[35]
  • CHF 656.3 million was Sunrise's financial expense in 2025, down 11.6% from 2024 in Switzerland.[35]
  • CHF 425.8 million was Sunrise's financial income in 2025, up 65.2% from 2024 in Switzerland.[35]
  • $31 million of EchoStar's 2025 capital spending was for satellite purchases in the United States.[35]
  • $118.8 million was Optimum's full-year 2025 free-cash-flow deficit, compared with $149.4 million of positive free cash flow in 2024 in the United States.[35]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Fiber shifts in subscription mix are measurable, with 51% of fixed-broadband subscriptions across OECD countries using fiber technology in Q4 2025.

Product development in the broadband industry

  • 49% of surveyed telecommunications professionals were actively using AI in operations in 2024, up from 41% in 2023.[12]
  • 90.4 billion dollars was the average annual U.S. broadband capital investment during 2020–2024, the highest of five investment eras measured since 1996.[21]
  • 65% of surveyed telecommunications professionals planned to increase AI-infrastructure spending in 2025.[12]
  • 37% of surveyed telecommunications professionals identified network planning and operations, including AI-RAN, as an investment priority in 2024.[12]
  • 51% of fixed broadband subscriptions across OECD countries used fiber technology in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 31% in the fourth quarter of 2020.[67]

Product lifecycle in the broadband industry

  • 64,000 consumer customers were gained by Frontier in 2024, compared with a loss of approximately 4,000 in 2023, driven by fiber growth.[19]
  • 14% of TDS residential broadband customers used speeds below 100 Mbps at December 31, 2025, compared with 19% in 2024.[20]
  • 43% of TDS residential broadband customers took 1-gigabit-or-higher services at December 31, 2025, compared with 22% in 2024.[20]
  • 210,000 consumer copper-broadband customers were lost by Frontier in 2024, compared with 221,000 losses in 2023.[19]
  • 86% of TDS residential broadband customers subscribed to speeds of at least 100 Mbps at December 31, 2025.[20]

After-sales in the broadband industry

  • 0.68% subscriber churn was reported for higher-speed customers by surveyed rural broadband providers, versus 1.14% for lower-speed customers.[50]
  • 79% of broadband subscribers were very or somewhat satisfied with their service in the third quarter of 2025.[68]
  • 21 fixed-broadband complaints per 100,000 customers were recorded for Sky by Ofcom in 2024, the lowest rate among reported providers.[18]
  • 1.47% was Frontier’s U.S. fixed-broadband churn rate in the first quarter of 2024, compared with 1.43% a year earlier.[50]
  • 55% of U.S. fiber-internet consumers considered access to a real person or a reasonable customer-service wait important in 2024.[23]

Value proposition in the broadband industry

  • 38% of U.S. consumers cited a Wi-Fi home-coverage guarantee as a broadband-purchasing consideration in 2024.[37]
  • 55% of U.S. broadband customers chose services between 100 Mbps and 940 Mbps in 2024.[21]
  • 46% of U.S. consumers identified a guaranteed broadband speed as the leading driver of internet-purchasing decisions in 2024.[37]
  • 40% of households across ten markets considered using one connectivity-and-content supplier in 2023, rising to 44% in 2024.[37]
  • 9.4% was the year-over-year decline in real U.S. broadband prices for the 100–940 Mbps speed range in 2024.[21]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Sustainability reporting emphasizes energy and materials inputs, including BT reducing global energy consumption by 9% year-on-year in FY2026.

Sustainability in the broadband industry

  • 77,500 rural sites were deployed by Airtel across more than 173,000 villages between January 2021 and December 2025.[69]
  • 14% of Deutsche Telekom’s network-technology material input was circular in 2025, measured by the weight of reused or recycled material.[42]
  • 34% of BT’s UK electricity demand was met through long-term power purchase agreements in FY2026.[70]
  • 10% of Deutsche Telekom’s data-centre IT-equipment material input was circular in 2025, measured by weight.[42]
  • 226 GWh of global energy consumption was reduced by BT in FY2026, a 9% year-on-year decrease across its networks and buildings.[70]

ESG in the broadband industry

  • 40.7% of Telefónica’s total financing was linked to sustainability criteria in 2025.[31]
  • 1st place was held by Telefónica in the Ranking Digital Rights index for the fourth consecutive edition in 2025.[31]
  • 17,219 sustainability-related supplier audits were conducted by Telefónica in 2025.[31]
  • 74% of Telefónica’s high-risk potential suppliers were ESG-assessed in 2025.[31]
  • 6,973 suppliers received contracts from Telefónica in 2025.[31]

Ethics in the broadband industry

  • 17,219 Telefónica supplier audits in 2025 covered labour, human rights, conflict minerals, security and data-protection criteria.[31]
  • 90,725 employees completed Telefónica’s Responsible Business Principles course during the 2022–2024 training cycle.[31]
  • 2018 was the year Telefónica approved its artificial-intelligence principles for ethical and responsible AI use.[31]
  • 73,957 employees completed Telefónica’s Responsible Business Principles course in 2025.[31]
  • 1st place was held by Telefónica in the Ranking Digital Rights index in each of the last four editions reported in 2025.[31]

CSR in the broadband industry

  • 170 million people were reached through Airtel’s additional 4G/5G network coverage between January 2021 and December 2025.[69]
  • 1,187,894 mobile broadband base stations, including 5G stations, were reported by Airtel in the latest KPI year.[69]
  • 793 million sheets of paper were saved through Airtel e-bills in the latest year shown in its sustainability KPI table.[69]
  • 4.4 out of 5 was Airtel’s employee-engagement score in the latest year shown in its sustainability KPI table.[69]
  • 173,000 villages received additional Airtel rural-network coverage through deployments made between January 2021 and December 2025.[69]

Circular economy in the broadband industry

  • 44% of Deutsche Telekom customer-premises devices taken back in 2024 were refurbished.[42]
  • 11% was Deutsche Telekom’s 2025 take-back rate for mobile devices, excluding T-Mobile US.[42]
  • 2.451 million fixed-line devices were refurbished by Deutsche Telekom’s external service providers in 2025.[42]
  • 4.6 million Deutsche Telekom customer-premises devices were taken back across the Group in 2024.[42]
  • 80% of Telefónica equipment delivered for refurbishment was reused in 2025.[31]

Carbon footprint in the broadband industry

  • 3,132,656 tonnes of CO2e were BT’s worldwide Scope 3 emissions in FY2024.[70]
  • 2,853,536 tonnes of CO2e were BT’s worldwide Scope 3 emissions in FY2025.[70]
  • 3,360,519 tonnes of CO2e were BT’s worldwide Scope 3 emissions in FY2023.[70]
  • 52% was BT’s reduction in operational carbon emissions from FY2017 to FY2025.[70]
  • 2,504,064 tonnes of CO2e were BT’s FY2026 Scope 3 emissions.[70]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Penetration gaps persist by income level, with fixed broadband at 21 per 100 globally in 2026 versus 0.6 per 100 in low-income countries.

Globalization in the broadband industry

  • 39 fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants were recorded in high-income countries in 2026.[8]
  • 21 fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants were recorded globally in 2026.[8]
  • 105 mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants were recorded globally in 2026.[8]
  • 40% of mobile-broadband subscriptions were 5G subscriptions globally in 2026.[8]
  • 0.6 fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants were recorded in low-income countries in 2026.[8]

Distribution channels in the broadband industry

  • 100,152,853 U.S. households accessed the internet through fixed broadband in 2023.[50]
  • 87,000 Starlink satellite-broadband connections were reported in the United Kingdom in 2024.[18]
  • 113,950,014 U.S. households accessed the internet through mobile broadband in 2023.[50]
  • 35% of United Kingdom households with available full-fibre services subscribed to them in July 2024.[18]
  • 7.5 million United Kingdom households subscribed to full-fibre broadband where it was available in July 2024.[18]

Key questions about the broadband industry

How large is the global broadband market in 2025–2026?
The market is best measured through connectivity volumes rather than a single comparable revenue total. ITU estimated 1.6 billion fixed-broadband subscriptions and 9.1 billion mobile subscriptions for 2025.
What is the growth rate for fixed broadband into 2026?
ITU reports that fixed-broadband subscriptions grew at an average annual rate of 4.7% over the five years to 2026. A comparable global broadband-revenue CAGR from a primary statistical source was not identified.
Which companies lead the broadband industry?
Huawei leads Gitnux's 2026 broadband ranking with an Overall score of 9.3, with Huawei helped more than 50 carriers launch fiber-to-the-room broadband packages in 2025. América Móvil is the highest-ranked broadband network operator at 9.0, driven by América Móvil being the leading integrated telecommunications services company in Latin America.
What technology shifts matter most for broadband in 2026?
Mobile broadband is increasingly 5G, with 5G share of mobile broadband at 40% in 2026. Fixed broadband penetration is 21 per 100 people in 2026.
How does market structure vary across countries and technologies?
Competition varies substantially by country and technology, and national market shares can mask strong local concentration. Fixed penetration in 2025 ranges from 39 per 100 in high-income economies to 0.6 in low-income economies.
How affordable is broadband globally in 2026?
In 2026, the global median price of the ITU fixed-broadband basket was 2.3% of GNI per capita, down from 2.5% in 2025. Affordability is weakest in low-income economies at 25.3% of GNI per capita.
Reference

Cite This Report

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APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Broadband Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/broadband-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Broadband Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 10 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/broadband-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Broadband Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/broadband-industry-statistics.

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