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Telecom Minute Weekly: Cable Bleeds, T-Mix Fine Print, and Starlink Surge Pricing

Charter lost 233,000 broadband subscribers in a single quarter, even with Cox now part of the company. This week we look at why cable's network upgrades aren't stopping people from leaving, the fine print in T-Mobile's new T-Mix plans, and how SpaceX started pricing like an airline while bidding $8 billion for nationwide mobile spectrum.

Cable's broadband losses

• Charter's first combined results with Cox: 233,000 internet customers lost, a $2.4 billion net loss including a $6.3 billion franchise impairment, a $2 billion cost-cutting target, and 2026 capex guidance raised to $13 billion
• Pressure on mid-sized operators: Cable One warns of possible Chapter 11 ahead of a November 13 court hearing, and Optimum loses about 58,000 broadband subscribers
• Mobile is cable's bright spot: Spectrum Mobile adds 440,000 lines, Xfinity Mobile adds 368,000
• Customers switch because of price, not speed: price drives 43% of switching discussions, according to CompareInternet.com
• Comcast's free speed boost for the Grand Theft Auto VI preload, and Verizon's Fios and Frontier Fiber promotions
• Fiber overbuilding draws pushback from towns in North Carolina
• New York settles with T-Mobile after finding only 15 households enrolled in its required affordable broadband plan

The consumer wireless fight

• T-Mix goes nationwide at $55, $75 and $95 a line, with "Picks" credits you spend on phones or streaming perks
• The catch: free perk swaps only in the last 10 days of each 90-day cycle, and a $15 fee to swap early
• T-Mobile's postpaid account net adds fall 31% while churn rises, and it adds a $30 T-Mix Saver tier and a 5-gig fiber tier
• Verizon's early Black Friday offers arrive days after it raised its line fees by 96 cents
• Visible, Mint and Metro push prepaid prices down to $15–$19 a month

SpaceX goes after telecom

• Starlink's demand-based pricing goes nationwide: Residential Max now runs from $104 to $156 a month depending on local network demand
• Ookla: Starlink's U.S. median download speed is up 12% to nearly 120 Mbps, and 40% of users now meet the 100/20 BEAD standard
• New retail partner program, the Router 4, and the battery-powered Starlink Mini 2
• The FCC accepts SpaceX's $8 billion application for Grain Management's 800 MHz licenses. Petitions to deny are due December 1.
• Musk's comments about buying a telco, and Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges' response

Key numbers

• 233,000: broadband subscribers Charter lost across the combined Charter and Cox footprint
• 15: New York households T-Mobile enrolled in the state's required affordable broadband plan
• $15: T-Mobile's fee to swap a T-Mix streaming perk early
• $52: monthly gap between Starlink's cheapest and most expensive Residential Max markets
• $8 billion: SpaceX's bid for nationwide 800 MHz spectrum

Telecom Minute Weekly is a production of Recon Analytics. We track wireless, broadband and video through primary consumer research and competitive intelligence. Find more at reconanalytics.com/telecom-minute-weekly