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NEWS
Federal Communications Commission

News Media Information 202 / 418-0500

445 12th Street, S.W.

Internet: http://www.fcc.gov

Washington, D. C. 20554

TTY: 1-888-835-5322

This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
February 12, 2010
Mark Wigfield at (202) 418-0253
Email: mark.wigfield@fcc.gov

FCC RELEASES NEW CENSUS TRACT-LEVEL DATA ON HIGH-SPEED INTERNET

SERVICES

Detailed Data Pinpoints Disparities in Broadband Adoption

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission today released the first High-
Speed Services for Internet Access report to be based on the new census tract-based Form 477
data collection requirements.
The FCC has collected information from facilities-based broadband service providers since 2000.
In 2008, the FCC released orders implementing significant improvements to its data collection.
As part of the improvements, providers of fixed-location Internet access connections faster than
200 kilobits per second (kbps) report connection counts at the census tract level as well as the
state level. All reporting providers, including mobile wireless providers, report connection
counts for an increased number of upload and download speed tiers. Therefore, for the first time,
this report summarizes information about fixed-location Internet access connections in 3,232
counties and 66,287 census tracts and in 72 combinations of upload and download advertised
transmission speeds. Additionally, the report summarizes information about subscribers with
full Internet access at transmission speeds above 200 kbps as part of their mobile wireless service
package.
New features of the report include:
· Our estimates of the share of households with fixed-location high-speed connections in
individual census tracts and counties, which indicate there are substantial areas of
relatively low and high adoption. In 200 counties (6% of counties, containing 1% of U.S.
households), we estimate that no more than 20% of households had such connections,
while in 104 counties (3% of counties, containing 8% of U.S. households) we estimate
that at least 80% of households had such connections. Fixed-location technologies
include asymmetric and symmetric digital subscriber line (DSL), wireline technologies
other than DSL, cable modem service, fiber-to-the-premises (“FTTP”), satellite, fixed-
wireless services provided by WISPs and others, power line, and other fixed-location
technologies.
· New nationwide maps showing our estimates of household adoption rate ranges in
individual census tracts – for fixed high-speed connections (that is, faster than 200 kbps
in at least one direction) and separately for connections that meet the definition of

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broadband service used for the purposes of awarding broadband grants under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (that is, 768 kbps or higher advertised
downstream speeds and upstream speeds above 200 kbps).
·
More finely detailed maps of areas with multiple high-speed service providers. Instead of
a single ZIP Code-based map combining providers of connections over all technologies
and to both residential and business end users, we now map: (1) providers of total
(combined residential and business) fixed-location connections by census tract, (2)
providers of residential fixed-location connections by census tract , and (3) providers
making mobile wireless high-speed service available by census tract.
·
New charts illustrating the relationship between household subscribership, or adoption,
rates and demographic factors, such as median household income, household density, and
educational attainment.
Other report highlights include:
·
High-speed Internet access connections to homes and businesses over fixed-location
technologies increased by 10% during 2008, to 77 million. By contrast, the annual rate of
increase was 17% during 2007.
·
At year-end 2008, 25 million mobile wireless service subscribers had mobile devices
(such as laptops and smartphones) with high-speed data plans for full Internet access.
These subscribers are a subset of the 86 million subscribers whose mobile device was
capable of transmitting information at speeds above 200 kbps, including subscribers who
purchased only a voice service plan for the handset and subscribers whose data service
included only customized-for-mobile content (for example, text and multimedia
messaging, or the capacity to download ringtones and games). Because reporting
practices previously varied among providers to a largely unknown degree, neither of the
December 2008 figures is directly comparable to mobile wireless high-speed connections
reported for earlier dates.
· Reported connections for the most widely adopted fixed-location technologies, cable
modem and aDSL, increased by 14% and 3%, respectively, during 2008, to 41 million
cable modem connections and 30 million aDSL connections, with the cable modem
increase being partly due to more comprehensive reporting by small cable systems. A
56% increase in total FTTP connections, to 3 million, was the largest rate of increase
among fixed-location technologies.
· Of the 102 million total high-speed connections at year-end 2008 (including residential
and business fixed and mobile connections), 86 million (or 84% of the total) were faster
than 200 kbps in both upstream and downstream directions, 77% met the definition of
broadband service used for the purposes of awarding broadband grants under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (with 768 kbps or higher advertised
downstream speeds and upstream speeds above 200 kbps), 49% had downstream speeds
of 3 megabits per second (mbps) or more and upload speeds above 200 kbps, 34% had
downstream speeds of 6 mbps or more and upload speeds above 200 kbps, and 11% had
downstream speeds of 10 mbps or more and upload speeds above 200 kbps.

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·
For fixed-location technologies as a group, 89% of connections met the definition of
broadband service used for the purposes of awarding broadband grants under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (with 768 kbps or higher advertised
downstream speeds and upstream speeds above 200 kbps). Among mobile wireless
subscribers whose subscription included a data plan for full Internet access, 41% of
subscriptions met the definition.
The report also includes statistics for residential high-speed connections at the national level and
substantially expanded state-by-state information. The state-by-state information includes
expanded information about speed tiers of connections in service in each state and newly
available information about the distribution of counties and census tracts according to our
estimated household adoption rates for fixed high-speed connections.
The report is available for reference in the FCC’s Reference Information Center, Courtyard
Level, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC. Copies may be purchased by calling Best Copy
and Printing, Inc. at (800) 378-3160. The report can also be downloaded from the Wireline
Competition Bureau Statistical Reports Internet site at www.fcc.gov/wcb/stats.
- FCC -
Wireline Competition Bureau contacts: James Eisner and Suzanne Mendez at (202) 418-0940,
TTY (202) 418-0484.

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