Ookla: "Broadband" Availability Expanding Rapidly

According to an Ookla report (registration required) released on October 27, the availability of high-speed Internet access that satisfies the FCC's definition of "broadband" grew dramatically during the first half of this year.

Ookla, which operates the Speedtest® website, reported that the number of states in which most of its users enjoy speeds that meet or exceed the minimum benchmarks established by the FCC – 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream – nearly doubled between January and June of 2025. It also found that parity between urban and rural areas increased substantially during that time.

Specifically, Ookla's testing data revealed that the number of states in which at least 60 percent of users have access to "broadband" jumped from 23 (including the District of Columbia) as of year-end 2024 to 39 by the end of June 2025. In five of those states – Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Rhode Island –over 70 percent of its users receive "broadband."

In only three largely rural states do less than half of Speedtest® users report "broadband" service: Wyoming (48.26 percent), Montana (41.09 percent), and Alaska (38.42 percent).

In addition, the gap between the speeds provided to urban and rural users narrowed in 33 states during the first six months of this year – nearly double the number of states (17) in which that disparity increased. 

USTelecom Report: Broadband Investment Continues to Rise Rapidly

USTelecom – The Broadband Association is out with its annual report on investment in communications infrastructure by U.S. broadband providers. For 2024, the report documents that America's broadband providers invested $89.6 billion in new infrastructure. This brings the total capital expenditure investment in broadband facilities since 1996 to more than $2.2 trillion.

That's a huge amount of capex for 2024 and since 1996. As far as I know, no one has seriously questioned the validity of USTelecom's annual investment reports.

It's not news that it is very expensive – very capital intensive – to meet America's expanding need for fast, reliable, and secure broadband networks. That's what the USTelecom reports have documented over the last three decades. Certainly, America's broadband networks will be essential to enabling and facilitating the burgeoning use of AI. America's economic security will depend on it.

Of course, there is an important policy context that undergirds any discussion of the role of broadband – and continued broadband investment – in America's economy. Given the competitive environment that exist today, there certainly is no need for adoption of any heavy-handed regulatory mandates such as the now eliminated "Net Neutrality" regulations. They stifle investment and innovation, rather than promoting it.

And there is a need to remove permitting and other impediments, especially at the state and local level, that unduly delay infrastructure projects and render their costs unreasonable.

Carr Updates Congress on Broadband Interagency Coordination

In a series of letters dated September 9, 2025, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr updated congressional leaders on steps taken by the Commission to improve data collection and interagency coordination efforts related to federal broadband infrastructure subsidies.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published "Broadband Programs: Agencies Need to Further Improve Their Data Quality and Coordination Efforts" on April 28, 2025. That report, which I described in detail in a May post to the FSF Blog, highlighted shortcomings in the processes by which the four agencies primarily responsible for distributing billions in federal dollars – the FCC, NTIA, and the Departments of Treasury and Agriculture – share data to prevent the awarding of duplicate grants and the overbuilding of privately funded infrastructure.

It also identified concerns relating to the accuracy of the FCC's maps – the National Broadband Map and the Broadband Funding Map – and the efficacy of federal and state agency coordination.

To address these issues, the GAO report made 14 recommendations, six specific to the FCC.

In his letters to committee leadership in both the Senate and the House, Chairman Carr wrote that the Commission "is pleased to inform you that the Commission is actively addressing and incorporating GAO's six recommendations into [its] processes and interagency coordination of federal broadband funding projects."

Regarding data collection, the FCC, consistent with its internal corrective action plan, has been documenting internal policies and procedures, reviewing how mapping data is validated, and aligning processes relating to verifications, audits, and enforcement.

To improve interagency coordination, the Commission has been working with other agencies to establish a common definition of "covered data" for the purpose of information sharing as well as timelines governing that sharing process.

In conclusion, the letters assert that, "[t]ogether, when fully implemented, the Commission, as well as our sister agencies, expect these process improvements will further minimize wasteful duplicative funding."

For more on the critical importance of effective interagency coordination regarding broadband subsidies, I direct your attention to "The Failure's in the Footnote: Agencies Must Improve Broadband Expenditure Coordination Efforts," my January 2025 Perspectives from FSF Scholars, as well as the numerous Free State Foundation publications referenced therein.

PRESS RELEASE: FSF Says the Proposed Charter - Cox Transaction Will Benefit Consumers

Today, Free State Foundation President Randolph May and Senior Fellow Andrew Long filed comments with the FCC in the agency’s proceeding to consider the proposed Charter - Cox transaction. Below are excerpts from the Introduction and Summary and the Conclusion that capture the essence of FSF’s comments: 

"We evaluate the likely relevant impact that the proposed transaction would have – that is, how it might affect the public interest, convenience, and necessity – given the specifics of the proposal and, critically, the broader competitive context that exists today. In short, we find there is ample evidence that the proposed Charter/Cox transaction, if approved, would benefit consumers by invigorating competition in the broadband, mobile, and video marketplaces. We also conclude that, given the de minimis extent to which the applicants' footprints overlap and the indisputable widespread existence of competitive pressures, there appear to be no substantial transaction-specific harms that might offset those benefits.”

 

*     *     *

"[T]he combination of Charter and Cox promises numerous consumer benefits. These include lower costs, greater choice, and additional innovation in traditional cable offerings (broadband and video) fostered by an enhanced ability to compete with often much larger rivals, including Big Tech platforms with global reach; (2) the expansion of Charter's hybrid MVNO offering into Cox's footprint combined with lower costs through greater scale; and (3) the "onshoring" of Cox customer-service jobs. And given the lack of any meaningful overlap in service territories, not to mention the high level of third-party competition in all three marketplace sectors, there appears to be little, if any, basis for concern that the transaction could result in significant harms."

Wireless Taxes Are Way Too High

The Wireless Foundation's valuable annual report regarding the taxes and fees imposed on wireless services has just been released. It short, it paints a dismal picture for consumers with respect to the taxes, fees, and government surcharges added to their bills.

 The top line: A typical American household with four phones on a “family share” plan, paying $100 per month for taxable wireless services, would pay over $330 per year in taxes, fees, and government surcharges.

 

Taxes, fees, and government surcharges now make up a record-high 27.60% of the average wireless services bill.

 

The federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) charge has increased again, from 12.76% to 13.36% of the average wireless services bill, and state and local taxes on the average bill also increased, from 14.01% to 14.25%. Together, you get the 27.60% total.

 

Maryland, where the Free State Foundation is located, ranks in the top quartile of those states with the highest taxes, fees, and government surcharges imposed on wireless services. Over 30% of the average Marylander's wireless services bill is composed of those add-ons.

 

Some good news: The average charge from wireless providers has decreased by 29% since 2012, from $47.00 per line per month to $33.36 per line.

 

Now the bad news: During this same time, wireless taxes, fees, and government surcharges increased from 17.18% to 27.60% of the average bill. The result – the consumer benefits from lower wireless prices are almost totally offset by higher taxes and fees.

 

Of course, the Tax Foundation's report is not just a sterile exercise in collecting and organizing data. All this matters greatly to consumers, and especially to low-income families. According to the report, approximately 83 percent of low-income adults live in wireless-only households. Wireless taxes, fees, and surcharges are regressive and disproportionally adversely impact low-income families.

 

That should be reason enough for state and local taxing authorities, and the federal government with regard to the USF fee, not only to halt the upward trend but to act to substantially reduce the current tax burden on wireless consumers!