Addressing Gaps in Broadband Infrastructure Availability and Service Adoption: A Cost Estimation & Prioritization Framework

Although gigabit availability has increased by 50 percent over the last three years, households that lack 100/20 Mbps service have declined by only 3 percentage points over the same period. In addition to households known to be unserved to the Federal Communications Commission, there are an additional estimated 8.2 million households in census blocks reported as “served” that do not have broadband service available. Approximately 12 million households in total, inclusive of these 8.2 million households, do not have access to a baseline level of service. The broadband adoption gap is an equal, if not greater, barrier.  Today, 30 million households do not subscribe to broadband even where it is available, and 36% of households without a fixed broadband connection have income below $20,000. Additionally, adoption is an issue in both rural and non-rural areas: 29 percent and 28 percent do not connect with existing service, respectively. Availability and affordability can be addressed with currently proposed funds:  for example, the US can build gigabit broadband to all 19 million locations with less than 100/20 Mbps service, as well as provide subsidies that will enable up to 17 million households to connect to broadband service, for $61-118 billion.