When cable television first rolled out across the United States, the major players, which included current leaders Comcast and Charter Communications worked with communities on an exclusive basis.
One of those companies agreed with each community on a deal to build out the needed cable infrastructure in exchange for long-term exclusivity. If you lived in Swampscott, Mass in the mid-to-late 1980s, as I did, your cable company was the now-defunct Warner Cable.
The internet and streaming did not exist yet, so your only alternatives where over-the-air television, VHS tapes, and those old-school giant satellite dishes.
“What we have now is an unregulated monopoly,” warned Cynthia Pols, general counsel for the National League of Cities, said in 1989, according to the Los Angeles Times.
As broadband replaced cable television, many of the same companies that once built exclusive cable franchises transitioned into dominant internet providers in their local markets.
Satellite internet, phone company 5G service, and streaming networks on the cable have lessened those monopolies, but they don’t fully solve most communities’ needs for true choice.
SiFi Networks had been working with cities all over the country to build out a rival fiber networks to challenge to incumbent ISPs. That company has now filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to documents filed on PacerMonitor.
SiFi Networks was addressing a problem
The FCC Communications Marketplace Report finds that a significant share of U.S. households, roughly one-third, have access to only one provider capable of delivering broadband at 100/20 Mbps speeds, according to the FCC Communications Marketplace Report.
Another 34% have access to exactly two providers, leaving most households with limited competitive choice beyond a duopoly.
Taken together, the data shows that a majority of Americans still lack meaningful broadband competition with three or more viable options.
Against that backdrop, SiFi Networks built its model around expanding ISP choice through open-access fiber networks that allow multiple providers to operate on shared infrastructure.
“SiFi Networks is an infrastructure developer, operator and wholesaler who secures long term access agreements to municipal public rights-of-way (ROW) for the private finance, construction, operation and maintenance of citywide fiber to the premise (FttP) networks. Such networks are available to ISPs, creating an expedited route to mass-market expansion without the associated capital cost of entry,” the company shared on its website.
It takes the company 24 months (two years) to build a network to serve a new partner community.
SiFi Networks files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
SiFi Networks America, LLC, a Wilmington, DE-based developer and operator of citywide open-access fiber networks, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Jun. 5 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, according to PacerMonitor.
- The company reports $1 million to $10 million in assets and between $10 million and $50 million in liabilities.
- The filing indicates that there will be funds available for distribution to unsecured creditors.
- Sifi Networks’ case number is 26-10912.
The company filed a list of 20 leading creditors. It also shared that it has ongoing litigation with Berkshire Hathaway and Cablevision, among others.
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Charter and Comcast are fighting to hold on
Before the rise of streaming services, consumers had no alternative to the classic cable bundle in many communities. Even when rival services, like DSL, became available, they were slower, and offered an inferior picture compared to the established incumbent.
Frontier Communications, for example, a once-independent DSL provider now owned by Verizon, offered service in a Florida community where my wife and I had a home. It was cheaper than Comcast, the established player, but top internet speeds were slower, and the cable picture quality was not quite as good.
“The conclusion for the two [Comcast and Charter] is about the same: even a near worst-case scenario yields roughly flat subscribership over the next five years or so,” MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote. “That’s a far cry from the doomsday scenarios we typically hear for the bear case.”
SiFi Networks positioned its open-access fiber model as an alternative to incumbent broadband providers such as Comcast and Charter, aiming to introduce more competition at the infrastructure level.
The company, which remain in operation, stood as a potential challenger to the status quo.
Because the company uses Open Access network architecture, multiple internet service providers (ISPs) will share space on SiFi’s fiber infrastructure. The model instantly infuses the market with competition, giving communities a much-needed choice against existing cable monopolies and duopolies whose networks have fallen far behind new technologies and skyrocketing consumer demand, according to Benton Institute for Broadband.
Cable has struggled
“In May 2025, streaming captured 44.8% of all TV viewing, surpassing the combined viewership of broadcast (20.1%) and cable (24.1%) for the first time in history, according to Nielsen’s monthly report, The Gauge.
Cable’s customer based has dropped as cord cutting has grown.
“Pay TV penetration has collapsed from its 2010 peak of 88% to approximately 50% by the end of 2025,” according to GlobalData.
By 2028, just 32% of U.S. homes will have traditional pay TV, GlobalData added.
This has impacted every legacy player in the space.
The broader pay-TV industry has lost roughly 28 million subscribers since 2017 as consumers increasingly abandon traditional cable bundles, according to the FCC Broadband Progress report.
Charter CEO Christopher Winfrey see cable television as a way to keep, or add, people as ISP subscribers.
“Our goal is to have a video product that supports broadband acquisition and broadband retention. And I think it’s a powerful tool to do that if we can provide value and utility for customers,” he said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
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