Regulatory uncertainty reigns.

This is an excerpt from Parks Associates research service, Home Services Dashboard. Consumer Insights Dashboards present survey-based consumer research that tracks the movement of foundational market metrics, such as product or service adoption, household spending intentions, churn, and key tracking metrics on leading industry players. Insights from Kristen Hanich , Director Parks Associates

Parks Associates surveys 8,000 - 10,000 U.S internet households every quarter, with additional surveys completed throughout the year. The survey results represent demographics for all US internet households, 90% of all US households.???

On January 20th, 2025, Donald Trump began his second term as US President. The House and Senate will both be held by Republicans until at least 2027. The new administration has already taken a number of actions, primarily via executive orders, that stand to radically reshape the US regulatory space, the role of federal agencies in setting and enforcing regulations, and funding mechanisms.

1. The stage is set for broadband deregulation, but stricter regulation of broadcast television and radio. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has shared his vision of priorities for the next four years. His actions to date have included reversing previously dismissed political bias complaints against CBS, ABC, and NBC and filing a new investigation into PBC/NPR for allegedly running commercials. Chairman Carr has stated that he intends to re-interpret Section 230 to limit immunity for tech platforms, raising questions around content moderation and international law.
2. Spending cuts and administrative priorities may favor satellite/fixed wireless over fiber/cable. BEAD funding was not impacted by the White House’s order to pause Infrastructure Act spending, but priorities are likely to change to favor satellite and potentially fixed wireless deployments, leaving fiber and potentially cable by the wayside. Broadband providers that have been awarded funding may wish to take care, as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the purview of Space X CEO Elon Musk, has already reversed transactions for certain payments, including revocation of $80M of congressionally-appropriated FEMA funding from New York City’s bank accounts. With the Trump Administration mulling extreme spending cuts, future funding opportunities may additionally be slim.
3. Tariffs may impact consumer spending and supply chain. Broadband providers are less likely than other tech ecosystem players to be directly impacted by tariffs, but tariffs could increase the cost of critical network infrastructure components and negatively impact consumer confidence and willingness to spend. The University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment measured a 10% slide between January and February 2025, which it attributed to inflation concerns. Additional inflation and heightened prices will result in increased competitive pressure on the broadband market.

Mergers and acquisitions are likely to accelerate under the new administration, with regulatory uncertainty muddying the waters with regards to future planning. ISPs must take care when making dealings with foreign partners and should act to secure their supply chains.

Consumer bundling with traditional services is flat compared to Q3, with value-added services seeing a resurgence.

Adoption of traditional bundles remains flat, at 54% of US home internet households, compared to the third quarter. Mobile service bundling is similarly flat QoQ for the overall market, although this disguises convergence growth among individual market players. In its Q4 earnings call, Comcast reported that its mobile plans reached 12% penetration of its broadband subscriber base.

NPS for services is commonly lower in the fourth quarter, given the impact of holiday spending on consumer budgets. Nonetheless, NPS decreased YoY for tested services, suggesting continued price sensitivity.

Internet service providers must continue to react to this changing market. Steeper competition from low-cost providers risks potential churn among the price-sensitive. High-value customers continue to prefer bundled offers.

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Executive Summary? ???????????? ?

Industry Benchmarks?????????????????????????????????????? ?

• Internet Adoption in US Households
• Adoption of Traditional Bundled Home Services
• Home Service Subscriptions – YoY vs. QoQ
• Adoption of Standalone vs. Bundled Services
• Adoption of Home Service Packages
• Adoption of Mobile and Internet Bundles
• ARPU of Total Home Services
• ARPU of Standalone Home Service
• ARPU of Bundled Home Service
• ARPU of Most Common Home Service Packages

Home Service Provider NPS ?

• Net Promoter Score by Sector – Trending (2019-2024)
• Net Promoter Score of Home Service Providers
• Net Promoter Score of Home Internet Providers’ Services
• Net Promoter Score of Home Phone Providers’ Services
• Net Promoter Score of Mobile Providers’ Services
• Net Promoter Score of Traditional Pay-TV Providers’ Services
• Net Promoter Score of? Professional Security System Monitoring Providers

Broadband Close-Up? ?? ?

• Market Share of Top Ten Residential Home Internet Providers
• Residential Fiber and Fixed Wireless Trends: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile

Appendix