Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today updated broadband speed benchmark to 25Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads against 4 Mbps/1 Mbps standard set in 2010.
Using this updated service benchmark, the 2015 report finds that 55 million Americans – 17 percent of the population – lack access to advanced broadband. Over half of all rural Americans lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps service.
Recently, American President Barack Obama demanded better broadband connectivity and net neutrality.
The divide is still greater on Tribal lands and in U.S. territories, where nearly 2/3 of residents lack access to today’s speeds. 35 percent of schools across the nation still lack access to fiber networks capable of delivering the advanced broadband required to support today’s digital-learning tools, said FCC.
17 percent of all Americans (55 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps service.
53 percent of rural Americans (22 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps.
By contrast, only 8 percent of urban Americans lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband.
Rural America continues to be underserved at all speeds: 20 percent lack access even to service at 4 Mbps/1 Mbps, down only 1 percent from 2011, and 31 percent lack access to 10 Mbps/1 Mbps, down only 4 percent from 2011.
63 percent of Americans living on Tribal lands (2.5 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband
85 percent living in rural areas of Tribal lands (1.7 million people) lack access.
63 percent of Americans living in U.S. territories (2.6 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband.
79 percent of those living in rural territorial areas (880,000 people) lack access.
Overall, the gap in availability of broadband at 25/3 closed by only 3 percentage points last year, from 20 percent lacking access in 2012 to 17 percent in 2013
The broadband availability gap has closed by only 3 percent last year.
Americans living in rural and urban areas adopt broadband at similar rates where 25 Mbps/ 3 Mbps service is available, 28 percent in rural areas and 30 percent in urban areas.
Approximately 35 percent of schools lack access to fiber, and thus likely lack access to broadband at the Commission’s shorter term benchmark (adopted in its July 2014 E-rate Modernization Order) of 100 Mbps per 1,000 users, and even fewer have access at the long term goal of 1 Gbps per 1,000 users.
FCC says more work needs to be done by the private and public sectors to expand robust broadband to all Americans in a timely way.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
