Cable One’s CEO says major ILECs acquisition integrations give it a competitive window

Todd Koetje, CFO of Cable One, said that ILECs converting DSL customers to FWA are tactical about customer retention.  

“As we've talked about in the past, where the LEC has not upgraded to fiber and especially where that LEC has a fixed wireless access product for home broadband,” he said. “They've been very aggressive in attempting to keep the customers they already have, as their initiatives are not only focused on the customer side, but also on decommissioning that high-cost copper.”

He added ILEC’s conversions have “moved the DSL population down at a faster pace than it would have naturally because of those fixed wireless saves.”

While Verizon hasn’t been as aggressive with its FWA product yet, Cable One continues to see and expect deployments from T-Mobile and AT&T in the market it operates in today.

According to data Cable One has gathered from Open Signal, 80% of its footprint now has at least one FWA competitor.

Holanda said that while it saw broadband losses in the first quarter, it has a strategy that will continue to appeal to price-conscious consumers.

“Churn was elevated in the quarter, but remained primarily concentrated within our more competitive markets, which allow us to concentrate on our retention efforts where they can have the greatest impact,” he said. “At the same time, new connections improved year-over-year, driven in part by value-conscious customer segments. These customers are an important part of our segmentation strategy and remain a focus for us as we add them in an accretive way.”

Mobile, home products enhance ARPU

Cable One continues to see the effects of signing up customers at lower promotional rates, and elevated churn continues to affect ARPU. Still, the cable MSO remains confident it has the tools to raise ARPU.

One of the first elements of Cable One’s APRU growth plan is to expand the reach of its gigabit services throughout its footprint. Today, Cable One offers gigabit speeds in 40% of its footprint, where its competitors don’t.

“While we certainly expect that intensity to grow over time and have modeled that out and are thinking in those terms, we also have clear visibility in terms of as ILECs start to fiberize or third-party overbuilders start to come in with a fiber build,” Holanda said. “We see that coming well in advance, and we think we've built a pretty good playbook for defending against it.”

Holanda added that “we have a little bit more opportunity in terms of, again, getting higher speeds and getting a whole host of value-added services into our customers' kitchens and living rooms to help us as we go forward across those retention pressures.”

In addition to its targeted retention offers in our more competitive markets at lower rates, Cable One is enhancing its product set with new offerings such as its dedicated support program, whole-home Wi-Fi, and, more recently, mobile wireless service.

For example, its Tech Assist platform is a premium support service from Sparklight designed to help with connected devices and smart home setups. Starting at $10 a month, it provides access to U.S.-based experts for everyday connectivity issues, device troubleshooting, and equipment replacement or repair.

“We are deepening multiproduct customer relationships through offerings such as mobile, Whole-Home Wi-Fi, enhanced online security, and comprehensive technical support for the connected home, all while continuing to invest in the network to strengthen further the consistent, reliable experience our customers expect,” Holanda said. “While still early, these are the types of operational actions we believe can improve retention trends over time.”

Mobile will also play a role in Cable One’s ARPU playbook. While its mobile service is relatively new, Holanda, who previously oversaw the launch of Astound Broadband's mobile service, sees its potential to bolster its bond with its customer base further.

“We are roughly 2 months into our MSO-wide mobile launch,” he said. “And while it is too early to conclude retention or lifetime value, initial customer response has been encouraging. We continue to believe mobile service can become an important component of the broader relationship over time.”

Revenue hits and misses

Cable One’s churn challenges in its residential segment, particularly declines in broadband and video service revenue, weighed on the company’s revenue, which dipped 7.3% to $353 million, with $10.0 million of the decrease attributable to lower residential video revenue.

Residential data revenues were also down 5.1% to $213.6 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared to $225.1 million in the first quarter of 2025, a decrease of $11.6 million, or 5.1%, year-over-year. Likewise, residential data revenues declined $6.1 million, or 2.8%, on a sequential quarterly basis.

Koetje noted that the “year-over-year decrease was driven primarily by lower residential video and residential data revenues.”

However, declines in residential data were partially offset by a 0.8% increase in ARPU.

Finally, business data revenues for the first quarter of 2026 were $56.3 million, a decrease of $1 million, or 1.8%, year-over-year.

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