Hits to Legacy Services Continue in 2nd Quarter 2012

DirecTV had never lost customers, on a net basis, ever, until the second quarter of 2012. Cable companies have losing video customers for about 16 consecutive quarters. 

And now it appears U.S. telcos might have lost digital subscriber line customers, on a net basis, for the first time. 

The eight largest American phone companies collectively lost 70,000 net DSL subscribers between April and June 2012. 

AT&T lost 96,000, while the other seven on average added a few thousand each. During that same period, the top four public cable ISPs, including industry giant Comcast, reported a gain of 290,000 subscribers. 

To be sure, you can attribute the second quarter loss virtually entirely to AT&T. But the fact remains that, where it comes to high speed broadband access, cable operators are adding customers, while telcos are struggling to keep pace. That doesn't mean telcos necessarily are "losing."

Keep in mind there is a huge nuance here. AT&T U-verse high speed Internet delivered a second-quarter net gain of 553,000 subscribers to reach a total of 6.5 million, helping offset losses from DSL.

In other words, legacy DSL is losing consumer favor. But U-verse and Verizon's FiOS are growing. So the cable lead in high speed access is not necessarily as stark as it might at first appear. 

In fact, you might argue that AT&T and Verizon are "trying" to lose DSL customers in favor of U-verse and FioS customers.