After $3.3B Spent, more than 39 Million Americans Still Only Have Access to 1 Wired Broadband Provider

After $3.3B Spent, more than 39 Million Americans Still Only Have Access to 1 Wired Broadband Provider

Written by
October 22, 2022

In 2010, the FCC reported to Congress that “broadband is not being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.”

Since that time, the US Government has spent over $3.3B on broadband infrastructure grants via the BTOP program managed by the NTIA.

According the the NTIA website, these grants were designed to “Expand broadband access and adoption in communities across America.”

Yet as of the 2013 over 39 Million Americans (12.1% of the population) only have access to 0 or 1 broadband providers, leaving these consumers without a competitive market and no alternative provider to switch to if they are dissatisfied. For full details on the data that powers BroadbandNow visit our data page.

March 2015 Update: In a report published by the FCC after this article was written, it states “Recent data show that approximately 55 million Americans (17 percent) live in areas unserved by fixed 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband or higher service” which is worse than the data below displays.

You can read the FCC’s full 2015 report to congress here.

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THE MOST UNDERSERVED STATES IN THE USA

Below is a breakdown of the underserved populations in each state along with the amount of money each state received in federal infrastructure grants.

States with the largest populations underserved, the percentage of that state underserved, and the amount of money received via broadband infrastructure grants from the BTOP program.
Rank State Underserved Population % of Population Underserved Infrastructure Grants
1 Texas 4,388,546 16.52% $67,698,503
2 California 2,779,519 7.24% $350,064,330
3 Missouri 1,489,631 24.41% $71,745,250
4 Oklahoma 1,265,136 32.8% $83,470,346
5 Alabama 1,248,808 25.58% $91,596,026
6 Ohio 1,237,541 10.67% $141,300,142
7 Georgia 1,235,729 12.19% $69,687,765
8 Wisconsin 1,213,772 20.98% $57,969,654
9 Virginia 1,207,875 14.56% $92,995,941
10 South Carolina 1,104,939 22.95% $9,604,840
11 Illinois 1,096,278 8.45% $173,923,501
12 Michigan 1,078,431 10.93% $108,574,985
13 Florida 1,046,321 5.32% $55,902,591
14 Tennessee 1,031,116 15.74% $15,865,636
15 North Carolina 995,726 9.97% $120,685,297
16 Louisiana 907,699 19.79% $89,759,799
17 Minnesota 890,085 16.41% $36,200,630
18 New York 808,598 4.13% $38,938,988
19 Arizona 803,315 11.89% $71,464,944
20 Arkansas 797,684 26.65% $102,131,393
21 Kentucky 714,053 16.09% $535,308
22 Mississippi 710,604 23.63% $102,364,489
23 Indiana 689,684 10.43% $39,397,487
24 Iowa 675,209 21.84% $33,945,037
25 West Virginia 611,369 32.7% $129,525,056
26 Kansas 606,591 20.85% $998,419
27 Pennsylvania 589,469 4.58% $128,444,692
28 Washington 545,109 7.79% $166,058,182
29 New Mexico 520,165 24.34% $76,978,670
30 Colorado 439,904 8.35% $112,772,612
31 Hawaii 425,284 30.23% $33,972,800
32 Montana 378,393 37.17% $13,796,640
33 Idaho 372,868 22.65% $8,169,716
34 Maryland 362,611 6.11% $115,240,581
35 Utah 325,285 11.09% $31,048,683
36 Nebraska 303,650 16.25% $11,547,866
37 Oregon 288,487 7.28% $20,548,476
38 South Dakota 273,033 32.62% $20,572,242
39 Nevada 196,734 6.83% $26,713,723
40 Alaska 187,736 25.35% $0
41 Wyoming 182,935 31.28% $10,671,802
42 New Jersey 152,187 1.7% $39,638,152
43 Massachusetts 148,378 2.23% $77,517,537
44 Maine 122,213 9.11% $25,402,904
45 Vermont 112,081 17.77% $45,649,894
46 New Hampshire 81,727 6.11% $44,480,992
47 Connecticut 77,079 2.12% $93,855,029
48 North Dakota 60,550 8.77% $10,781,157
49 Delaware 48,992 5.25% $0
50 Rhode Island 2,313 0.21% $21,739,183
District of Columbia 9,387 1.5% $17,457,764
Puerto Rico 2,110,534 57.19% $38,613,544

It’s important to note that as of this writing 41% of the US population has access to fixed wireless broadband. While this and other wireless technologies have their benefits and drawbacks when compared to Cable, DSL, and Fiber Optics, it may not be economical for rural customers to have access to multiple wired providers due to large infrastructure costs and the economies of scale required to support those costs. These more robust services are commonly reserved for major metro areas, such as New York.

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