Fiber, Technology Convergence Drive Up US Broadband Competition

Three years ago, 91% of US residential locations had access to 100/20 Mbps broadband connectivity; only 59% had access to more than one provider; and just 25% of locations had access to three or more providers.

Since then, competition in the broadband industry has increased significantly. Today, every US residential location has access to at least one provider offering 100/20 Mbps speeds, and 94% have more than one option. The share of locations with access to three or more providers has risen to 71%.

This has been driven by several key changes in the broadband market:

• Coverage from low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite, via Starlink, has become near ubiquitous. This adds a broadband competitor to every location.
• These LEO networks are not currently at the capacity required to provide 100/20 Mbps speeds to all residential locations, but at the current subscriber levels, they do appear to have the capacity to continue providing these speeds.
• Fiber coverage has expanded rapidly. Notably, over the last three years, the share of US residential locations with three or more terrestrial providers has grown from 14% to 38%, primarily driven by fiber expansion. 

5G fixed wireless coverage has also grown dramatically over the last three years. We’ll explore trends related to this technology in a future Insight.

Explore the State of US Broadband Report

This analysis is part of Cartesian’s State of US Broadband Report, a biannual publication from Cartesian’s own expert analysts designed to make the FCC’s BDC data accessible and digestible as quickly as possible following each release. Download the full report below.