Comcast drops more broadband subs as restructuring and layoffs loom

(Source: Jonathan Weiss/Alamy Stock)

Comcast lost another batch of broadband subscribers in Q3 2026 in the face of ongoing competition from fixed wireless access (FWA) alongside pockets of recent, aggressive pricing from fiber rivals. Meanwhile, the operator is moving ahead with a major operating and cost transformation initiative that will result in a sizable layoff.

Layoffs have been expected ever since Comcast last month shared a few details about a major restructuring of the business that's expected to save the company billions. It's still not clear how big the layoff wave will be, but Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the company is planning to make "significant job cuts" that could come to full light in "a matter of weeks."

Comcast, which ended 2025 with 179,000 employees, hasn't commented on the report of a coming layoff and how significant of a cut it will be. Multiple industry sources tell Light Reading that a sizable portion of the coming layoffs will hit Connectivity & Platforms, the segment that includes Comcast's cable business.

Related:'Largest cost transformation' in Comcast's history will save billions, says CFO

Part of the financial impact of the reorg will be felt in the current quarter. "We expect to have a significant charge in the fourth quarter related mostly to our transformation efforts, and I would quantify that at over $1 billion," Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong said on today's earnings call.

As described by Armstrong last month, the restructuring will result in the elimination of layers and a more general overhaul aimed to help the company become more agile, make quicker decisions and to enable it to invest in growth areas such as AI.

"We are fundamentally redesigning our organization," Armstrong said.

Some of that effort includes new leadership. For example, Mike Angelakis, Comcast's former CFO, is on board now as a strategic advisor and is set to become CEO of Comcast after NBCU and Sky are spun out by mid-2027. Former Apple, Expedia and DirecTV exec Jon Gieselman joined Comcast last year as chief growth officer.

Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh reiterated on today's call that the operating and cost transformation initiative underway will be the largest in the company's history. But he stressed that it "goes well beyond cost savings" as the company reallocates resources to growth areas.

Greater AI emphasis

Comcast shed some light on how it is turning to AI to improve its operating and customer service model, citing relatively new partnerships with Sierra AI and Cresta (Comcast Ventures invested in Cresta's $125 million Series D round).

Comcast has teamed with Cresta on an agentic front end for bot-to-human interactions, with Sierra helping with bot-to-bot interactions, Steve Croney, CEO of Comcast's Connectivity & Platforms segment, said. He noted that Comcast recently joined the Personal Agent Protocol initiative (which counts Meta and Sierra among its leads) that's focused on developing standards for how agents interact with businesses. "We're really leaning into this," Croney said.

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With the help of AI, Comcast has reduced customer service contact rates by 20% and eliminated more than 30 million service interactions year-to-date versus 2025, Armstrong said.

Comcast is also pursuing AI-focused business growth drivers, including investing in its edge infrastructure, which comprises about 1,400 headends, to supply compute, space and power and cooling to partners. While that's not considered a major near-term business driver for Comcast, "we think it's a big opportunity," Armstrong said.

Comcast sheds more broadband subs amid 'irrational pricing' from fiber

Comcast lost 144,000 residential broadband subs versus a loss of 91,000 subs in the year-ago quarter, lowering its total to 28.34 million (with 45% of them on speeds of 1 Gbit/s or more). Those losses were better than the -136,000 expected by analysts.

Related:Comcast takes AI to the edge

Those Q3 losses were partly fueled by what Comcast has called "irrational pricing" from certain fiber competitors it first saw in Q2 and continued into Q3. Analysts have identified AT&T as the primary culprit, though AT&T has been raising broadband prices in recent weeks.

Alongside competitive pressure, Armstrong said Comcast also saw an "unusually high volume" of existing customers rolling off of promotions. "That's been a pain point for us," he added, noting that Comcast is making efforts to retain those customers without a big step-up in pricing.

"Subscriber losses weren't the worst ever. But they were the worst ever for a third quarter, which historically has been the seasonally strongest," MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said in a research note (registration required).

70% of free mobile lines converting to pay

Comcast added 368,000 mobile lines in Q3, down from a year-ago gain of 414,000 and below the 399,000 expected by analysts. The company estimated that about 50% of postpaid connects in the quarter comprised free lines, and that 40% of its mobile connects are on the company's Premium Unlimited plan. Comcast noted that about 70% of its free mobile lines (typically offered for a period of 12 months) are converting to paid.

Comcast ended Q3 with 10.55 million mobile lines, meaning that about 18% of its broadband base now attaches Xfinity Mobile.

That also equates to 7% of the total addressable wireless lines in Comcast's footprint, Armstrong said. He said Comcast is starting to put a bigger focus on premium mobile tiers and on mobile customers who require multiple lines.

Comcast's video strategy 'leaving a lot on the table' – analyst

Comcast lost 274,000 video subscribers, widened from a year-ago loss of 257,000 subs, dropping its total to 10.39 million. Notably, Comcast had more wireless lines than video subscribers at the end of Q3.

Comcast "is leaving a lot on the table by not have a video offering like Charter's," Moffett said, referring to Charter's strategy to provide pay-TV subs with access to an array of ad-supported premium streaming services, including Peacock, Disney+ and HBO Max, for no additional cost. Comcast is taking a different approach with its discounted "StreamSaver" bundles.

Financial snapshot

Comcast posted consolidated revenues of $29.3 billion, down 1.5% year-over-year, matching analyst expectations.

Q3 revenues for Connectivity and Platforms dropped 2.7% to $19.66 billion, with domestic broadband revenues dipping 4.7% to $6.55 billion.

Domestic wireless revenues climbed 14.7% to $1.05 billion, marking the second-consecutive quarter in which category revenues eclipsed $1 billion.

Video revenues dropped 8.7% to $5.91 billion.

Business services revenues rose 2.7% to $2.64 billion as Comcast continues to push into the enterprise services market.

Comcast posted Q3 capex of $2.4 billion, up from $2.32 billion in the year-ago period. That total included $716 million for customer premises equipment, $894 million for scalable infrastructure (including network upgrades and rebuilds), and $653 million for line extensions (builds to new areas via hybrid fiber/coax and PON).

Comcast shares were up 84 cents (3.78%) to $22.92 each in early afternoon trading.

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