New FCC Data on High-Speed Internet Access

NEW FCC DATA ON HIGH-SPEED SERVICES FOR INTERNET ACCESS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
On Monday the FCC released new data on high-speed connections to the Internet in the United States. Twice a year, facilities-based broadband providers report the number of high-speed connections in service pursuant to the FCC's local telephone competition and broadband data gathering program. Statistics reflect data as of June 30, 2005. For reporting purposes, high-speed lines are connections that deliver services at speeds exceeding 200 kilobits per second (kbps) in at least one direction, while advanced services lines are connections that deliver services at speeds exceeding 200 kbps in both directions. The June 30, 2005 data provide more information about the "speeds" of advanced services lines and finer distinctions among technologies than previously reported. They also enable, for the first time in this data collection, estimation of the extent to which high-speed Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connections are available to households residing in the areas served by incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) and the extent to which high-speed cable modem service is available to households residing in the areas served by cable TV systems. Highlights of the report include: 1) there are 37.7 million advanced service lines in the US, 61.8% of which were at least 2.5 mbps in the faster direction; 2) of the 37.7 million advanced services lines, 34.3 million served primarily residential end users. Cable modem service represented 64.9% of these lines while 33.9% were asymmetric DSL (ADSL) connections; 3) As a nationwide average, the FCC estimates that high-speed DSL connections were available to 76% of the households to whom ILECs could provide local telephone service as of June 30, 2005, and that high-speed cable modem service was available to 91% of the households to whom cable system operators could provide cable TV service.; 4) 98% of US zip codes have at least one high-speed provider -- The most widely reported technologies by this measure were satellite (with at least some presence reported in 86% of Zip Codes), ADSL (in 78% of Zip Codes), and cable modem (in 62% of Zip Codes). ADSL and/or cable modem connections were reported to be present in 85% of Zip Codes.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-264738A1.doc

* See the report at:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-264744A1.pdf

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