FCC Releases 2021 Broadband Deployment Report

The Federal Communications Commission released its annual Broadband Deployment Report. The gap between urban and rural Americans with access to 25/3 Mbps fixed broadband service fell from 30 percentage points at the end of 2016 to 16 points at the end of 2019. Additionally, more than three-quarters of those Americans in areas newly served in 2019 (nearly 3.7 million) live in rural areas, bringing the number of rural Americans in areas served by at least 25/3 Mbps broadband service to nearly 83%, up 15 points since 2016. The report showed an overall decrease of more than 20% in the number of Americans without access to 25/3 Mbps broadband service since the 2020 report, from more than 18.1 million at the end of 2018 to fewer than 14.5 million at the end of 2019. With regard to mobile broadband, since 2018, the number of Americans lacking access to 4G LTE mobile broadband with a median speed of 10/3 Mbps was reduced by more than 57%, including a nearly 54% decrease among rural Americans. As of the end of 2019, the vast majority of Americans, 94% had access to both 25/3 Mbps fixed broadband service and mobile broadband service with a median speed of 10/3 Mbps. Mobile providers now provide access to 5G capability to approximately 60% of Americans.

For the third consecutive year, the FCC finds that broadband is being deployed on a reasonable and timely basis.