Preserving and Advancing Universal Service

As what we can do with the internet has expanded, so too has the way we connect, and how we use it—at home and on the go. In the United States today, it has become the norm for a majority of households to have two types of subscriptions to the internet—mobile data for their phone and fixed (and for the most part) wireline service for their residence. Over 75 percent of households whose annual incomes exceed $50,000 have cellular data and wireline broadband subscriptions. For households below that level, 44.7 percent have both types of subscription plans. The story is more pronounced at either end of the income spectrum. At upper-income levels—homes whose annual incomes exceed $150,000—85.1 percent had both wireline and cellular data subscriptions. Among households whose annual incomes are $25,000 or lower, the figure is less than half that—36.3 percent. In addition, according to the Pew Research Center, 85 percent of American adults have a smartphone. And smartphone access directly compliments wireline broadband subscriptions at home for most Americans. The norm for internet access is using cellular access when outside of the home, but using Wi-Fi at home off of a wireline subscription for many data-intensive applications, thereby conserving data allotments in mobile broadband plans for use on-the-go. Clearly, given sufficient income, households rely on both wireline and wireless broadband services. They often are not substitutes but a part of a continuum of connectivity that consumers rely upon throughout their daily lives.