Cable One’s CFO says overlap of Verizon/Frontier and AT&T/Lumen deals is minimal

Koetje added that Cable One expects the market to have a diverse mix of a couple of wireline broadband providers, fixed wireless providers, and satellite providers serving rural areas.

This structure will give Cable One an opportunity to grow share over the long term and generate attractive shareholder returns.

“Looking ahead, we expect many markets to settle into a structure with two wired multi-gig broadband providers alongside wireless options, both fixed and mobile, as well as satellite adoption on the rural edge,” he said. “Over time, we anticipate seeing an environment in which roughly 80% of households are served by wired providers, with the remaining 20% served by wireless or satellite solutions."

Facing off with FWA, fiber competition

Cable One faces off against a growing mix of FWA and fiber broadband providers throughout its footprint.  

Led by Verizon and AT&T, FWA has the largest presence across all markets where Cable One provides service today.

Both AT&T and Verizon reported sizeable FWA growth in the fourth quarter. AT&T added 221,000 AT&T Internet Air subscribers while Verizon added 319,000 subscribers. 

“FWA is near ubiquitous from a single provider, and there are markets where we have multiple providers,” Koetje said. “So when we say that, we mean that in almost every market, there's at least one. But in many markets, you have multiple mobile operators, our largest overlap from a fixed wireless perspective and Verizon and AT&T are close second.”

And while AT&T trailed Verizon in rolling out FWA, Koetje noted that “they've been very aggressive in markets where they have not upgraded their copper DSL to fiber.”

On the wireline broadband front, Cable One estimates 60% of its passings now face gigabit-capable wired broadband competition.

Koetje said, “Of that 60%, just over 50% reflects fiber-to-the-home largely from incumbent telco providers, while approximately 10% represents markets where we are the fiber-to-the-home provider competing against an upgraded gig-capable MSO.”

He added that “approximately 15% of our passings we compete against 2 other gig-capable wired broadband providers.”

Cable One will further enhance its network reach when it completes its acquisition of Mega Broadband Investments (MBI), a provider of broadband services across the Southeast, Northwest, and Mid-South, in October. It is using the lead time to create an integration plan with a target of under a year from close.

Offering a range of broadband, fiber connectivity, video and voice services for commercial and residential customers under the Vyve Broadband brand, MBI’s total revenues for the 12 months ended September 30, 2025, were approximately $310 million, with approximately 210,000 residential and business data customers across a network footprint with approximately 675,000 passings as of September 30, 2025.

Koetje said that MBI’s rural focus not only will expand its network reach, but its commitment to being a local provider also aligns with Cable One’s culture.  

“MBI serves rural America with a reliable high-speed network in geographies that are complementary to our existing footprint, and their local first-operated model is closely aligned with our own philosophy,” he said. “That strategic and cultural alignment gives us confidence in the combination ahead.”

Cable One has been using the lead time until the acquisition is completed in October to craft an integration plan. “We’ve emphasized early planning, tight prioritization, and an agile approach that allows teams to move quickly once the transaction closes,” Koetje said.

Narrowing broadband losses

Like its larger cable cohorts, Charter and Comcast, Cable One saw declines in broadband subscribers due to competitive pressure from FWA and fiber overbuilds.

During the quarter, Cable One lost 10,700 residential data customers. While net subscriber results in the fourth quarter improved from earlier in 2025, with year-over-year residential broadband connect growth, it still lost 10,700 subscribers.

“We continue to operate in a challenging macro environment with competitive pressure from fixed wireless and fiber overbuilds,” Koetje said. “Against that backdrop, our focus over the last two years has been on equipping the business to operate in a more competitive landscape by transforming our leadership, modernizing our growth-enablement platforms, and redefining go-to-market playbooks. With a considerable amount of the foundational work largely behind us, our focus is on defending our existing customer base, capitalizing on profitable growth opportunities and executing on key efficiency initiatives.”

Cable One’s gross connect activity improved sequentially through the first three quarters of 2025 and year-over-year in the fourth quarter, while disconnects improved significantly in the fourth quarter versus the third quarter. The fourth quarter represented a step forward relative to the declining trends of the first three quarters of the year.

While the results Cable One saw in the fourth quarter reflect progress, Koetje said it is “by no means a standard we view as acceptable.”

“The team is highly aligned and focused on driving continued improvement,” he said. “A key driver of this improvement has been the continued refinement of our go-to-market approach, enabled by the completion of our billing platform transformation.”

Specifically, Cable One has introduced a host of new products, pricing, and offers to serve better value-conscious customers who have churned or could churn to a competitor's lower-cost FWA plan. Also, it has been enhancing the customer experience through complementary services that support the in-home experience, including premium Wi-Fi powered by Wi-Fi 7, enhanced online security, and holistic technical support for any device connected to the home network.

“As of the end of the year, over one-third of our residential broadband customers were benefiting from the advanced in-home capabilities and experience delivered by our partnership with eero, representing growth of more than 30% year-over-year,” Koetje said. “Adoption of this service exceeded 80% during the quarter as customers continue to recognize the experience enhancements we've invested in, and we benefit from improved customer satisfaction and reduced churn.”

Residential broadband and video slip

For the fourth quarter of 2025, Cable One’s total revenues were $363.7 million compared to $387.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, down 6.1% year-over-year due to declines in residential data and video.

Residential data revenues were $219.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, down $9.6 million (4.2%) from $229.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, the decline was partially offset by a 1.2% increase in average revenue per unit (ARPU).

Video also declined. Residential video revenues declined $7.7 million, or 15.2%, year-over-year, primarily due to a decrease in residential video subscribers, partially offset by rate adjustments enacted in 2025.

Residential data revenues decreased $24.2 million or 2.6% year-over-year due to a 5.8% decline in subscribers, partially offset by a 0.6% increase in ARPU.

On the business data side, revenues grew 0.35% year-over-year, with growth in our fiber and carrier segments partially offset by modest subscriber declines and pricing pressure in our SMB business.

Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2025 were $74 million, a 2.9% increase from the prior-year quarter, and included $12.7 million for new market expansion projects and $1.6 million for integration activities.

On a full-year basis, Cable One’s total revenues for 2025 were $1.5 billion, down $35 million from 2024, with the decrease attributable to residential video.

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