Tons of AT&T and Verizon customers may no longer have “broadband”

At the current broadband definition of 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps up, only 6.3 percent of US households have no access to wired broadband. That doesn’t mean the other 93.7 percent are using broadband, but they could buy it from at least one wired Internet provider in their city or town.

Under the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed new definition of 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up (which is opposed by Internet providers), 19.4 percent of US households would be in areas without any wired broadband providers. And 55.3 percent would have just one provider of “broadband,” with the rest being able to choose from two or more.

Rural areas are far less likely to have fast Internet service than urban ones. A big portion of AT&T and Verizon subscribers will no longer have “broadband” if the FCC changes the definition. The nation’s two largest traditional telephone companies have each deployed a lot of fiber, but still have plenty of DSL customers.