The FCC sys the digital divide is narrowing. That’s according to a report circulated by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to fellow Commissioners Tuesday.
The draft 2019 Broadband Deployment Report to Congress shows that since last year’s recount, the number of Americans lacking access to a fixed broadband connection meeting the FCC’s benchmark speed of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps has dropped from 26.1 million citizens at the end of 2016 to 19.4 million at the end of 2017.
That’s a 25 percent decline. The majority of those gaining access to high-speed connections, approximately 5.6 million, live in rural areas, where broadband deployment has traditionally lagged.
The private sector responded to Commission reforms by deploying fiber to 5.9 million new homes in 2018, the largest number ever recorded, according to the agency. Overall, capital expenditures by broadband providers increased in 2017, reversing declines that occurred in both 2015 and 2016.
Other key findings of the report include the following, based on data through the end of 2017: The number of Americans with access to 100 Mbps/10 Mpbs fixed broadband increased by nearly 20 percent, from 244.3 million to 290.9 million. And the number of Americans with access to 250 Mbps/50 Mbps fixed broadband grew by over 45 percent, to 205.2 million.
Based on these and other data, the report concludes that broadband is being deployed on a reasonable and timely basis. The Commission is expected to vote on the report in the coming weeks.
February 20, 2019
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