Comcast’s Xfinity customers are continuing to pull the plug on key services, and the media giant is making a significant operational change as it works to reverse the trend.
In the third quarter of 2026, Comcast lost 144,000 U.S. broadband customers and 274,000 U.S. cable TV customers, according to its latest earnings report. Its domestic broadband revenue also dropped 4.7% year over year, while cable TV revenue slipped 8.7%.
The losses follow Comcast’s increased efforts to attract and retain these customers. For instance, in 2025, the company refreshed its internet plans by lowering everyday prices and adding one-year and five-year price-lock guarantees, unlimited data, new speed tiers, and a free Xfinity Mobile line offer.
Later that year, Comcast also launched five new Xfinity TV packages with an “everyday pricing structure.”
Comcast plans layoffs as customers keep leaving
While these changes haven’t dramatically slowed customer losses, Comcast is now opting to conduct “a significant number of job cuts” to improve its Xfinity business, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
The layoffs will reportedly be announced in the next few weeks and will restructure the company’s broadband, wireless, and cable TV businesses. The job cuts are aimed at putting Comcast in a better position to operate as an independent company after it spins off its NBCUniversal and Sky businesses in 2027.
On an earnings call on Oct. 22, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh confirmed upcoming organizational changes by stating that the company operates in a “competitive environment” that requires it to “execute at a higher level, move faster, and operate more efficiently.”
“We’re taking decisive steps to change how we operate, structurally improve our cost base, and create greater capacity to invest in growth,” he said.
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Comcast expects to take a $1 billion+ charge in the fourth quarter of this year due to these restructuring actions, which it believes are necessary for it to operate more quickly, be more nimble in decision-making, and create capacity to invest in growth.
“We’re challenging established ways of working and redesigning how we make decisions, allocate resources, and run the business to create a more agile, efficient organization that can compete more effectively and invest more decisively in growth,” said Cavanagh.
“Taken together, these advantages and the significant changes underway give us confidence in Comcast’s ability to compete more effectively and create meaningful value for shareholders,” he continued.
The move comes after Comcast sent a memo to employees in September 2025 warning them that it will begin cutting a layer between its corporate and regional offices in Janurary this year, resulting in layoffs and a simplified management structure in its connectivity and platforms sector.
“This change is not a reflection of anyone’s contributions — it is about simplifying how we work so we can compete more effectively,” reads the memo.
Comcast’s job cuts also come right before Michael Angelakis is set to become CEO of the company when the planned spinoff of NBCUniversal and Sky businesses from its broadband, cable TV, and wireless operations is completed in 2027.
Why Comcast is struggling to compete in broadband
Cavanagh said on the Oct. 22 earnings call that the company has “been operating in an intensely competitive environment for some time.”
He said Comcast’s broadband business is struggling to navigate fixed wireless and fiber internet competition, with satellite internet options, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, also becoming a growing threat.
“Fixed wireless remains aggressive and continues to take share, while fiber construction remains elevated, with pockets of irrational pricing and promotional activity,” said Cavanagh. “While satellite is not yet a material factor, we recognize the importance of anticipating emerging forms of competition and positioning our business to respond as the market evolves.”
Comcast Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong said on the call that Comcast saw “irrational competition” in the second and third quarters of this year and the trend is continuing into the fourth quarter. He said the pricing of fiber internet from competitors is what’s particularly “irrational,” as it’s “going to be really hard to sustain” in some cases.
“We obviously do a lot of overbuilding and deploy a lot of this (fiber) ourselves,” said Armstrong. “It’s $1,500+ per home, getting more expensive with construction costs up as you get into more suburban and rural areas.
“The underlying cost structure (of) deploying fiber (is) going up against what we saw as $30-$40 pricing in specific markets in the third quarter,” he continued. “As we look at the return profile of that, to us, that is irrational competition.”
Wireless carriers have been attracting a large number of customers to their fiber and fixed wireless offerings.
T-Mobile reportedly added roughly 520,000 broadband customers in the second quarter of 2026, according to data from research and consulting firm Recon Analytics. Verizon reported attracting about 348,000 during the quarter.
Meanwhile, AT&T revealed in its most recent earnings report that it added 696,000 internet customers in the third quarter of this year.
These notable additions come as U.S. consumers have been switching internet providers in recent months to dodge high prices.
A survey from Reviews.org in March found that 73% of Americans saw their internet bills spike this year, up from 43% in 2025. The research also showed growing frustration with unexpected charges, with 67% having switched or considering switching internet providers due to hidden or unexpected fees, versus 56% a year earlier.
In an analyst note, Wolf Research analyst Peter Supino said his firm expects “competition to intensify in 2027” for Comcast as “Starlink’s capacity growth explodes” and the pool of DSL (wired internet service) customers “shrinks to irrelevance,” according to a recent Fierce Network report.
He also said it would be beneficial if funds from Comcast’s upcoming job cuts and other cost-saving efforts were allocated to growth engines such as edge compute and mobile.
“We worry competition will instead divert cost savings into lower broadband prices,” wrote Supino.
Comcast customers can expect several notable changes
In response to shifting customer behavior, the company is putting a sharper focus on improving the customer experience, in addition to organizational restructuring, Comcast Cable Chief Operating Officer Steve Croney said on the earnings call.
“As we assess the overall environment, we are going to continue to compete aggressively, but we are going to compete with discipline and really focus on differentiating our products, adding value through deepening our customer relationships, and continuing to provide a great customer experience so we are not giving our customers a reason to leave,” said Croney.
Armstrong said the company will be “accelerating” its “technology transformation, product innovation, and AI adoption” to simplify customer interactions and reshape how they “discover, purchase, and manage services.”
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“We’re bringing in new technology leadership to increase the pace of innovation,” said Armstrong. “AI is already embedded across our network to optimize performance, and we’re expanding its application across customer experience through partnerships with Sierra and Cresta.”
He also said the company will double down on customer retention and adding more value.
“We’ve reduced historical pain points around promotional pricing expirations,” said Armstrong. “We’ve invested to increase awareness of our wireless product, and now we’ll push wireless relationships even deeper.”
“Our free line strategy has been a key tool in building awareness, but we’re now positioned to push further on multi-line customers, premium plans, and new device offerings, which meaningfully reduce churn and strengthen the overall relationship,” he continued.
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