Latest FCC Internet Access Report

The FCC recently released its latest Internet Access Services report based on data submitted by service providers semi-annually at the end of 2012.

Highlights of the report:

There were almost 65 million wireline and 64 million mobile Internet connections with speeds at 3 Mbps or more download and 768 kbps or more upload. That was a big jump over the previous year when there 51 million fixed and 31 million mobile connections.

Cable dominates wireline connections by a 2 to 1 margin compared to DSL. Among wireline Internet subscribers, 56 percent have a cable modem, 34 percent DSL, and 7 percent fiber. There were a total of 6.7 million fiber connections.

About 60 million subscribers, or 22 percent of total subscribers, connect at speeds of 10 Mbps or greater download. Cable dominates in this category, with 41 million, or almost two-thirds, of these higher-speed subscribers. Also in this speed category, 6 million connected with fiber, 3.4 million with DSL, and 8.6 million with mobile wireless.

A significant portion of the population still uses low-speed Internet. One-third of wireline and two-thirds of mobile Internet users' connection speeds are below 3 Mbps download. These connection speeds fall below the FCC's definition of broadband (set at 4 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload). As the report emphasizes, not all consumers have equal access to all speeds, and many lack any choice in carriers or quality.

Internet Access Services: Status as of December 31, 2012 (FCC, Dec. 2013)
 
FCC releases new data on internet access services (FCC news release, Dec. 24, 2013)