FCC Says Digital Divide Has Narrowed Substantially – DRAFT 2019 FCC Broadband Deployment Report Concludes Broadband Is Being Deployed At A Reasonable And Timely Rate

February 19, 2019 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has circulated a draft of the 2019 Broadband Progress Report to his fellow commissioners. It is the second such report under the Pai administration, and for the second consecutive year, the report concludes that advanced telecommunications capability (broadband service) is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. The Commission is expected to vote on the report in the coming weeks.

The draft report – based on data through the end of 2017 – shows that the number of Americans lacking access to a fixed broadband connection with speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps has dropped since the last report, from 26.1 million to 19.4 million. Notably, of the 6.7 million Americans that gained access to high-speed connections, approximately 5.6 million live in rural areas, where broadband deployment has traditionally lagged. This data point caused the FCC to assert that “the digital divide between Americans with and without access to modern broadband networks has narrowed substantially.”

Because the full draft report has not been released to the public, the only insight available is what was included in the FCC’s News Release announcing the report. Here are the key data points in the report that were announced:

The report shows that broadband providers deployed fiber to 5.9 million new homes in 2018, and overall, capital expenditures by broadband providers increased in 2017, reversing declines that occurred in both 2015 and 2016.

The number of Americans with access to 100 /10 Mbps fixed broadband increased by nearly 20%, from 244.3 million to 290.9 million.

The number of Americans with access to 250/50 Mbps fixed broadband grew by over 45%, to 205.2 million, and the number of rural Americans with access to such service more than doubled.

Without the full report it’s hard to perform a complete analysis. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at the main data point – the number of Americans that do not have access to broadband. The 2019 report keeps the current definition of broadband: service with speeds of at least 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. We are talking about fixed broadband service here. The report shows that the number of Americans lacking access to a fixed broadband connection has dropped since the last report, from 26.1 million to 19.4 million. So 6.7 million Americans gained access to high-speed connections. That’s good news. Regardless of where you stand on the Pai FCC’s policies, seeing 6.7 million Americans gain access to broadband is terrific. How does that stack up against other reports? Let’s take a look:

2018 Broadband Deployment Report: Over 24 million Americans still lack fixed terrestrial broadband at speeds of 25/3 Mbps. 

2016 Broadband Progress Report: As of December 31, 2014, approximately 34 million Americans lack access to fixed broadband service with speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps.   

2015 Broadband Progress Report: The report finds that 55 million Americans – 17 percent of the population – lack access to fixed broadband service with speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps. Further, the report shows that 53 percent of rural Americans – 22 million people – lack access to 25 /3 Mbps broadband service.

OK, it looks like we are making progress. But remember, we are talking about 25/3 Mbps broadband service. If the broadband benchmark was raised from 25 to 50 or 100 Mbps, U.S. broadband deployment would look awful. At some point, the standard will have to be raised. But for now, 25/3 Mbps service is broadband, and more Americans than ever before have access to that level of service. Again, that’s good news. (Yes, the bad news is that tens of millions of U.S. households do not have access to broadband.) hen the full report is released, there will be much more to discuss – both good and bad news. Stay tuned.