Feds: Fast Web Competition Lacking

Dec. 18, 2014
According to a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department's Economics and Statistics Administration, far more competition in ...

According to a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department's Economics and Statistics Administration, far more competition in Internet services exists at slower speeds than at higher speeds.

Specifically, at download speeds of 3 Mbps, 98% of the U.S. population had a choice of at least two mobile ISPs, and 88% had two or more fixed ISPs available to them. At 10 Mbps, the typical person is able to choose among two fixed ISPs. They also have the option of subscribing to any of three mobile ISPs at 10 Mbps. (The report analyzes fixed and mobile service separately.)

At speeds greater than 10 Mbps, 37% of the population had a choice of two or more fixed-service providers at speeds of 25 Mbps or greater; 9% had three or more choices.

The report also indicates that broadband service of 100 Mbps or greater is not available to 40% of Americans. Of those with access to fixed broadband service at this speed, 8% of the population had access to two or more providers, and 1% had access to three or more. Only 3% of the population had 1 Gbps or greater available, and none had two or more ISPs at that speed. Mobile service is virtually non-existent at download speeds of 25 Mbps or greater.

The full report is available at http://www.esa.doc.gov/Reports/competition-among-us-broadband-service-providers.

About the Author

BTR Staff

EDITORIAL
STEPHEN HARDY
Editorial Director and Associate Publisher
[email protected]
MATT VINCENT
Senior Editor
[email protected]
SALES
KRISTINE COLLINS
Business Solutions Manager
(312) 350-0452
[email protected]
JEAN LAUTER
Business Solutions Manager
(516) 695-3899
[email protected]

Sponsored Recommendations

AI and Network Convergence: Transforming Global Connectivity

March 7, 2025
In today’s hyperconnected world, rolling out and managing profitable, high-performance networks for access and transport will require innovative architectural approaches. The ...

Unveiling the Synergy Between AI and Optical Networking

March 12, 2025
Join us for an engaging discussion with industry experts on the intersection of AI and optics. Moderated by Sean Buckley, editor-in-chief of Lightwave+BTR, this panel will explore...

Transforming the metro network and the evolution of the "Digital Service Provider"

March 4, 2025
Join experts at EXFO and Ekinops in this webinar that will review the evolving metro-centric requirements and the technologies emerging to meet them.

Innovations Optical Transceivers

March 10, 2025
The continual movement around artificial intelligence (AI) cluster environments is driving new sales of optical transceiver sales and the adoption of linear pluggable optics (...