Fiber Now Reaches over Half of US Residential Locations, FCC Data Shows
Broadband access is expanding rapidly across the United States, alongside notable shifts in the technologies that deliver it. Below is a breakdown from our most recent State of US Broadband Report showing the share of residential locations served by each broadband technology over the last three years:
Several trends stand out:
- Fiber has seen rapid growth since 2022. Over the last three years, Fiber availability has grown on average 14.8% year-over-year.
- This reflects an ongoing, significant investment in fiber builds from ILECs replacing legacy copper footprints, alongside the technology deployment by MSOs and Overbuilders.
- This accelerated in early 2025, with fiber coverage rising nearly an additional 4% over the most recent 6-month period.
Over the same period, near universal coverage from low-Earth orbit satellite via Starlink remained constant, while fixed wireless has also seen significant developments that only become apparent when examining the data at the provider level, especially for MNOs. We will analyze this trend in an upcoming 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.
And if you are interested in watching our webinar where we discuss findings from the report, click here.
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Cartesian has over three decades of telecom strategy and analytics experience helping internet service providers, investors, industry groups, and state governments navigate the changing, competitive landscape of broadband internet access and network investment in the United States. Get in touch today to learn how we can help your team.
