Broadband Marches On

The inexorable logic of broadband is working its way through the populace:

After a quarter marked by DSL price cuts and cable speed boosts, one thing is clear: Broadband use is surging, regardless of what form it takes.

Recently released numbers from cable companies and from the Baby Bells who provide digital subscriber line access make it plain the companies are watching their broadband Net businesses flourish.

It’s unclear whether aggressive price cuts by DSL providers are eating into cable’s market-share lead, or whether cable’s doubling of its download speed has effectively countered the price cuts. But both sides know the fight for the remaining 80 percent of U.S. homes without broadband will intensify this quarter.

“The war between cable and DSL continues to rage on for sure,” said Daryl Schoolar, an analyst at In-Stat/MDR.

On Thursday, industry bellwether Comcast, the nation’s largest cable network, said it added 472,000 new broadband subscribers for the quarter ended Sept. 30, a 39 percent increase from the same period last year. Comcast now has 4.9 million broadband subscribers and expects to end the year at 5.3 million, the company said.

Comcast’s results come after other cable companies reported strong gains in their broadband businesses. [CNET]

Considering nothing really works like it’s supposed to on the Internet with dial-up, eventually broadband will rule. Of course, some people still have outhouses.