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The number of new broadband connections in the U.S. declined in the second quarter to the lowest level in seven years according to the Leichtman Research Group.

There were 887,000 new connections in the quarter among the top 20 cable and phone providers. The top broadband providers now account for 65.1 million subscribers with cable companies having 35.3 million broadband subscribers, and telephone companies having over 29.7 million subscribers.

The major cable companies added 670,000 subscribers, representing 76 percent of the net broadband additions for the quarter. Overall broadband additions in the quarter amounted to 51 percent of those in the second quarter of 2007 with cable companies having 85 percent as many additions as a year ago, and phone providers 23 percent.

The leading cable broadband providers have a 54 percent share of the overall market, with a 5.6 million more subscribers than telephone companies.

"Net broadband additions in the quarter were the fewest of any quarter in the seven years LRG has been tracking the industry," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc.

"While the relative number of quarterly broadband adds has certainly peaked, the decline in additions this quarter compared to the same period last year was exacerbated by Verizon and AT&T's emphasis on selling higher speed FiOS and U-verse bundled services, often at the expense of the traditional DSL service."