The State of Broadband in America, Q4 2020

In the fourth quarter of 2020, many broadband internet service providers introduced or expanded low-priced broadband plans, which the authors define as $60 or less per month, resulting in 70% of Americans having access to low-priced internet at speeds of 25 mbps download / 3 mbps upload and 30% at the higher threshold of 100 mbps download / 25 upload. Ninety-four ISPs added low-priced plans that were not available in Q3. National providers, such as CenturyLink and Xfinity were among them. Just 52% of Americans had access to low-priced plans in the fourth quarter of 2019. Other key findings:

• Rhode Island remains the state with the highest percentage of residents with access to low-priced plans of speeds 100 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload.
• While 78% of Americans have access to wired providers who report that they can service speeds of 100 Mbps download / 25 Mbps upload, only 30% of Americans have access to low-priced plans at that speed.
• For the first time, residents in Alaska have gained access to low-priced broadband plans. Despite this, less than 1% of the population has access. All 50 states plus the District of Columbia now have some level of access to low-priced plans.
• 21 states had improved or steady internet latency, compared to Q3. The state with the least latency is New Jersey, the one with the most is Hawaii.