FCC Broadband Report Finds Wider Availability but Leaves Affordability Out

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said that, as of mid-2025, approximately 94 percent of Americans had access to fixed wired broadband service meeting download and upload speeds of 100/20 Mbps. When fixed wireless services are included, that figure rises to 97 percent. The FCC said broadband availability reaches 99.7 percent when satellite services are also counted.

However, many Americans still have only one provider offering modern wired broadband service. About 5.7 percent of U.S. households had no provider offering 100/20 Mbps speeds, while 40.6 percent had access to just one wired broadband provider at that benchmark. When fixed wireless services are included, 3 percent of households had no qualifying option and 20 percent had only one.

FCC Broadband Report Does Not Analyze Prices

Unlike the latest report, the Biden-era FCC’s 2024 broadband report also considered broadband pricing. The Trump-era FCC criticized that approach, arguing that the 2024 report moved beyond the law’s focus on broadband availability and instead examined adoption, affordability, and equitable access.

Although the Carr-led FCC chose not to directly measure broadband affordability, it concluded that available evidence indicates broadband prices are declining. The report cites several third-party sources, including a price analysis and a filing from a broadband industry trade group. Research from an advocacy organization, however, presents a different conclusion and suggests that broadband prices increased in 2025.

“Today’s Section 706 report shows that President Trump’s policies and the commission’s Build America agenda are yielding real results for the American people,” Kerr said. “More Americans than ever before have access to next-generation, affordable services. The digital divide is rapidly closing, and various datasets show that speeds are increasing, prices are decreasing, and competition is increasing.”

Commissioner Gomez opposed excluding affordability from the FCC’s analysis. “The report at hand only addresses infrastructure deployment, and therefore does not address affordability and ease of use, which are other critical pieces of the puzzle that tie directly to the purpose of broadband deployment to ensure everyone is connected. Leaving affordability and ease of use out of the analysis is a policy decision that I disagree with,” Gomez said.

Gomez also argued that the 99.7 percent broadband deployment figure may be misleading because satellite internet can be affected by physical obstructions, limited capacity in high-demand areas, and network congestion that causes slowdowns. He pointed to regional congestion affecting Starlink satellite broadband. In some high-demand areas, Starlink has requested additional fees of up to $1,500 from customers.