The FCC has released its sixth annual report on broadband deployment in America. Thirteen Internet Service Providers (ISPs), including AT&T, CenturyLink Verizon, Spectrum (fka Time Warner Cable), Frontier, Comcast, Cox, Charter, Optimum, Mediacom, ViaSat and Windstream, voluntarily participated in the 2016 study. These ISPs collectively account for over 80% of U.S. residential broadband Internet connections. Among the findings in the report are: (1) the median download speed, averaged across all participating ISPs, has almost quadrupled, from approximately 10 Mbps in March 2011 to approximately 39 Mbps in September 2015; (2) the actual download and upload speeds experienced by most consumers meet or exceed advertised speeds; (3) subscribers with service plans offering between 15 Mbps and 50 Mbps are the most likely to migrate to even faster service plans while those subscribers with service plans offering 15 Mbps or less tend to abstain from upgrading to higher speed plans; and (4) consumers generally experience low latency, but latency itself is highly dependent upon type of wireless or wireline technology used to deliver the Internet. Under the National Broadband Plan, the FCC hopes to release annual “Measuring Broadband America” report through the year 2020.
