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Updated January 2, 2019
Broadband Deployment: Status and Federal Programs
Broadband—whether delivered via fiber, cable modem,
Table 2. Percentage of Americans With Multiple
mobile or fixed wireless, copper wire, or satellite—is
Options for Fixed Terrestrial Broadband (25/3 Mbps)
increasingly the technology underlying telecommunications
No provider 1 provider 2 providers 3 or more
services such as voice, video, and data. Since the initial
deployment of high-speed internet in the late 1990s,
Nationwide
6.0%
23.7%
42.4%
28.0%
broadband technologies have been deployed throughout the
Urban
1.5%
20.1%
45.8%
32.5%
United States primarily by the private sector. These
providers include telephone, cable, wireless, and satellite
Rural
24.3%
38.4%
28.0%
9.3%
companies as well as other entities that provide broadband
services to residential, business, and institutional customers.
Tribal
32.0%
36.1%
21.1%
10.8%
Source: FCC, Communications Marketplace Report, pp. 97-98. Data as
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) 2010
of December 31, 2017.
National Broadband Plan identified broadband as a basic
infrastructure necessary for improving economic growth,
Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (P.L.
job creation, civic engagement, global competitiveness, and
104-104) requires the FCC to regularly initiate an inquiry
a better quality of life. Broadband enables or enhances
and release a report (commonly called the “706 report”)
applications such as e-commerce, telemedicine, distance
assessing the status of broadband deployment to all
education, telework, entertainment, public safety, and
Americans. In its 2018 Broadband Deployment Report, the
energy conservation. Increasingly viewing broadband as a
FCC concluded that broadband is being deployed to all
basic infrastructure, Congress and successive
Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, asserting that
Administrations have focused on addressing gaps
FCC policies are now encouraging reasonable and timely
specifically related to broadband availability and adoption.
deployment by removing barriers to infrastructure
Broadband availability refers to whether or not broadband
investment and promoting competition in the
service is offered, while broadband adoption refers to the
telecommunications market.
extent to which American households actually subscribe to
and use broadband.
The FCC determined that the current speed benchmark of
25 Mbps/3 Mbps remains an appropriate measure by which
Availability
to assess whether a fixed service provides advanced
The lack of adequate broadband is most pressing in rural
telecommunications capability. Regarding mobile
America (especially tribal lands), where the costs of serving
broadband, the FCC found that adoption of a single mobile
large geographical areas, coupled with low population
benchmark is currently unworkable, given available data
densities, often reduce economic incentives for
and the inherent variability of actual mobile speeds. The
telecommunications providers to invest in and maintain
FCC concluded that mobile broadband service is not a full
broadband infrastructure and service. According to the
substitute for fixed service at this time.
latest FCC data (as of Dec. 2017), 94% of Americans have
access to terrestrial broadband (e.g., fiber and cable modem
Adoption
connections) at minimum speeds of 25 Mbps (download
The National Broadband Plan also identified broadband
speed)/3 Mbps (upload speed). The breakdown is 98.5%
adoption as a problem, with a significant number of
urban, 75.7% rural, and 68% tribal. Table 1 shows the
Americans having broadband available, but choosing not to
broadband availability gap in recent years. Table 2 shows
subscribe. According to a November 2017 Census Bureau
percentages of Americans with access to multiple providers.
survey compiled and reported by the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration
Table 1. Percentage of Americans with Access to
(NTIA), 85.9% of American households use wired
Fixed Terrestrial Broadband (25/3 Mbps)
broadband at home. Table 3 shows that populations
2014
2015
2016
2017
continuing to lag behind in broadband adoption include
people with low incomes, certain minority populations, the
United States
89.4%
89.9%
91.9%
94.0%
less-educated, the unemployed, the disabled, and
Rural Areas
60.4%
61.5%
67.8%
75.7%
households in rural areas. According to the Pew Research
Center, in its broadband adoption survey Home Broadband
Urban Areas
96.4%
96.7%
97.7%
98.5%
2015, the cost of monthly subscriptions is the leading
reason people do not have broadband connections.
Tribal Lands
57.2%
57.8%
63.1%
68.0%
Source: FCC, Communications Marketplace Report, released
December 26. 2018, p. 132, available at:
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-18-181A1.pdf
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Broadband Deployment: Status and Federal Programs
Table 3. Percentage of Households with Home
Farm Bill Broadband Loans. Funds the costs of
Internet Use Having Wired Broadband Service
construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities
Total U.S.
85.9%
and equipment needed to provide service in eligible
rural areas.
Native American
75.0%
African American
80.7%
ReConnect Program. Offers grants, loans, and
Hispanic
81.5%
loan/grant combinations for new or upgraded broadband
service in areas where at least 90% of households do not
White
87.3%
have adequate broadband.
Unemployed
80.9%
Telecommunications Infrastructure Loans and Loan
Employed
87.1%
Guarantees. Funds the construction, maintenance,
Disabled
80.7%
improvement, and expansion of telephone service and
Not disabled
86.6%
broadband in extremely rural areas with a population of
5,000 or fewer.
<$25K family income
75.3%
$25K-$49K
82.0%
Community Connect Grants. Funds broadband
deployment in rural communities where it is not yet
$50K-$74K
88.1%
economically viable for private-sector providers to
$75K-$99K
90.4%
deliver service.
$100K or more
92.7%
Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants. Funds
No diploma
70.6%
end-user equipment and broadband facilities to help
High-school graduate
79.3%
rural communities use telecommunications to link
Some col ege
86.4%
teachers and medical service providers in one area to
students and patients in another.
Col ege graduate
92.1%
Rural
75.6%
The 2018 farm bill (P.L. 115-334 ) included provisions
authorizing a grant component in combination with the
Urban
87.5%
broadband loan program; increasing the annual
Source: NTIA, Digital Nation Data Explorer, November 2017 data.
authorization level from $25 million to $350 million; and
(https://www.ntia.doc.gov/data/digital-nation-data-explorer)
authorizing grants, loans, and loan guarantees for middle
mile infrastructure.
Federal Programs
Federal programs exist that can provide support for
Meanwhile, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018
broadband availability and adoption to unserved and
(P.L. 115-141) established the $600 million ReConnect
underserved communities and populations. NTIA has
Program at RUS, appropriated $7.5 million to NTIA to
published a Guide to Federal Funding of Broadband
update the national broadband availability map in
Projects, which provides an overview of funding sources
coordination with the FCC, facilitated deployment of
across the federal government. Major broadband funding
broadband infrastructure on federal property, and made
streams are centered in two federal entities: the FCC and
more spectrum available for wireless broadband.
the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Programs at the FCC include the following:
Another notable federal broadband program is
BroadbandUSA at NTIA, which while not providing
Connect America Fund (High-Cost Fund). Subsidizes funding, offers resources and one-to-one technical
the cost of operating and extending broadband
assistance and advice to communities seeking to plan and
infrastructure to serve consumers and small businesses
implement broadband initiatives.
in rural, high-cost areas.
For More Information
E-Rate (Schools and Libraries) Program. Provides
CRS Report RL30719, Broadband Internet Access and the
discounts of up to 90% for broadband to and within
Digital Divide: Federal Assistance Programs.
elementary and secondary schools (public and private),
and public libraries in rural and nonrural areas.
CRS Report RL33816, Broadband Loan and Grant
Programs in the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service.
Rural Health Care Program. Subsidizes broadband
connectivity for public and nonprofit health care
CRS Report R45039, Defining Broadband: Minimum
providers, with a focus on rural areas.
Threshold Speeds and Broadband Policy.
Lifeline Program. Subsidizes eligible subscribers to
Lennard G. Kruger,
cover the recurring monthly service charges associated
with broadband subscribership; support is not given
IF10441
directly to the subscriber but to the service provider.
Programs at the RUS include the following:
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Broadband Deployment: Status and Federal Programs
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