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Also, here's coverage of other key stories on Altice USA:
· Altice USA to double the availability of multi-gig speeds across its network
· Grande Towers acquires parts of Altice USA’s wireless tower assets
Altice USA wants to make a greater dent in the competitive multi-dwelling unit (MDU) broadband segment.
MDU broadband, especially fiber, is a valuable investment for property owners and residents, providing increased value, enhanced tenant satisfaction, and a more modern, connected living experience. It can also contribute to more efficient and sustainable building practices.
Speaking to investors during Altice USA's first-quarter earnings call, Dennis Mathew, chairman and CEO, said there is a sizeable opportunity to service MDUs in its footprint.
“We're sharpening our focus on our multi-dwelling unit footprint, or MDUs, representing over 2 million serviceable passings across our footprint,” he said. “MDUs are a valuable customer segment as a portion is secured through long-term agreements and has a better churn profile.”
However, Altice USA appears to be taking a further strategic approach in the MDU space by looking for areas where it does not have a strong presence today and developing new service sets.
Altice USA offers managed Wi-Fi solutions for businesses and residential customers through its Optimum Business and Optimum brands. These services provide a range of benefits, including enhanced connectivity, security, and ease of management. Its Optimum Community Managed Wi-Fi offers enterprise-grade security features and context-aware access control to better protect against online threats.
“We've deployed new reporting and analytics tools to identify where we are under-penetrated and then track, monitor, and optimize performance, led by a focused leadership team to drive our go-to-market for this segment,” Mathew said. “We are also enhancing our managed Wi-Fi offerings to deliver a more substantial experience tailored to MDU customers.
MDU broadband competition ramps
Altice USA’s decision to step up its MDU broadband efforts comes as key competitors like Verizon aggressively pursue this market segment.
Verizon is focusing on fixed wireless access (FWA) solutions, which use millimeter-wave wireless spectrum, for multi-dwelling units (MDUs) to address the challenges of providing high-speed internet in these environments. The telco is moving towards its goal of having 8 million to 9 million FWA subscribers by 2028.
During its first quarter earnings call, Verizon said that its MDU solution, one of its capital spending priorities for this year, will launch in the "next few months.”
Mathew acknowledged that Altice USA continues to “see intense competitive elements in MDU and that’s where fixed wireless competes effectively.”
Nevertheless, he maintains that the company has a strategy to expand its reach into the MDU market. Altice has 2 million MDUs passing today and is adding 32,000 new MDUs this year.
“Historically, we have had very few visibility reporting tools to drive our go-to-market in MDU,” Mathew said. “We've recently brought in some new leadership and stood up some new tools, and we're already seeing the benefits of those tools and those new processes to help us drive penetration in under-penetrated areas.”
He added, "Our strategy is leveraging the income-constrained product, our ability to compete more effectively in MDUs, and our hyper-local playbooks, all of which are tools in our toolkit that will allow us to compete more effectively as we move forward.”
Narrowing broadband losses, raising ARPU
While Altice USA has a solid growth strategy for MDUs and fiber broadband, the service provider continued to see broadband subscribers decline during the first quarter.
The company noted that broadband subscriber net losses of 37,000 improved sequentially from last quarter, reflecting the investments and changes they have implemented in the previous 18 months.
Excluding the impact of the nearly two-month programming disputes, Altice USA would have only reported about 35,000 broadband net losses in the quarter.
Fiber broadband continued to be a bright spot. It added 69,000 new fiber customers to end the quarter with over 600,000 fiber customers, reaching 20% penetration of its fiber network.
Likewise, Altice USA is seeing growth in mobile. The company added 49,000 net mobile line additions, surpassing 500,000 mobile lines.
Driven by rate actions, rate discipline, and upgrade activity, Altice USA’s first-quarter broadband ARPU grew 2.4% to $75.31.
Altice USA's CFO, Marc Sirota, said the company has developed various methods to stabilize its ARPU trends.
For one, it minimizes the impact of ARPU retention efforts with CLV-based models and AI-assisted tactics.
New pricing structures and higher speeds on its fiber and HFC-based networks are also having an effect. “Our streamlined pricing approach is delivering better value for our customers and shifting demand toward higher-speed packages with almost 60% of new customers taking one gig or higher speeds,” Sirota said. “By the end of Q1, 35% of our customer base was on one gig or higher speed tiers.”
Accelerating fiber builds, mobile
As Altice USA implements more marketing and customer retention strategies, the cable MSO has cited mobile and fiber as significant growth opportunities.
Sirota said the company expects 1 million fiber customers by the end of 2026 and 1 million mobile lines by the end of 2027.
“We are very encouraged by the early traction from our strategic initiatives, which are resulting in strong broadband, fiber, and mobile trends,” he said.
Altice USA continues progressing with its fiber builds, adding 25,000 total new passings in the first quarter, reaching 9.9 million. “We grew our fiber footprint by 33,000 passings, primarily through fiber new builds, ending the quarter with 3 million fiber passings,” Sirota said. “We continue to edge out our footprint in a fiber-rich manner, with the majority of fiber passings in 2025 contributing to total new passings.”
Altice reported first quarter revenue of $2.2 billion, down 4.4% year-over-year.
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Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategies of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report across their websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products.