Author: Federal Communications Commission Adopted: August 13, 2026 Released: August 14, 2026 Docket: GN Docket No. 25-223 Commission: Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty issued separate statements supporting the report; Commissioner Anna Gomez concurred and issued a separate statement.
Overall determination
The Federal Communications Commission finds that advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to Americans in a “reasonable and timely fashion.” The finding rests on continued expansion of fixed wireline, fixed wireless, mobile 5G and satellite infrastructure between June 2023 and June 2025.
The Commission stresses that this does not mean every American already has adequate broadband. Approximately 10.58 million people still lacked access to terrestrial fixed broadband at the FCC’s 100/20 Mbps benchmark in June 2025. More than nine million of them lived in rural areas, while approximately 500,000 lived on Tribal lands.
Instead, the majority interprets Section 706 as asking whether deployment is progressing at a reasonable rate. It rejects the argument that the statute requires universal availability before the FCC can make a positive finding.
A narrower interpretation of Section 706
The report substantially changes the analytical framework used in the 2024 Section 706 Report. The previous Commission considered deployment alongside adoption, affordability, service quality and equitable access. The 2026 report confines the inquiry primarily to physical deployment and reported availability.
The Commission argues that Section 706 specifically asks whether advanced telecommunications capability “is being deployed.” In its reading, affordability and adoption are components of broader universal-service policy but are not part of this particular statutory test.
The majority describes the 2024 interpretation as an outlier that improperly relied on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other universal-service policies to expand the Section 706 inquiry. It says the annual report should measure incremental changes in physical availability and determine whether those changes are reasonable and timely.
The report also declines to use subscription or adoption rates as a substitute for deployment data. A household might choose not to subscribe for reasons unrelated to infrastructure availability, while subscription figures do not show whether a provider could offer service at a particular location.
Commissioner Gomez disagrees with this limitation. She argues that infrastructure is of little practical value when service is unaffordable, unreliable or unable to deliver its advertised performance. Although she concurred in the result, she says the statutory requirement should be treated as a minimum reporting obligation rather than a restriction preventing the FCC from examining other barriers to meaningful connectivity.
Fixed broadband benchmark
The FCC retains 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload as the benchmark for fixed advanced telecommunications capability. This threshold was first adopted in the 2024 report.
The Commission says 100/20 Mbps remains sufficient for common household uses, including multiple simultaneous video streams, telework, education, healthcare and other data-intensive applications. It concludes that the record does not yet support raising the present benchmark or adopting a symmetrical upload requirement.
At the same time, the FCC eliminates the 1,000/500 Mbps long-term target established in 2024. It says long-term benchmarks can quickly become outdated, may attempt to predict consumer requirements too far into the future and could conflict with the Commission’s commitment to technological neutrality.
The majority intends to revise the current benchmark when market evidence and consumer needs justify a change rather than establishing a distant target now.
Gomez objects to eliminating the gigabit target without replacement. She argues that technological neutrality requires holding different technologies to the same performance standard, not reducing the standard so that technologies with lower capacity can qualify. She also notes that more than 85% of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund awardees have committed to gigabit service.
Fixed wireline and terrestrial availability
As of June 30, 2025, 93.9% of Americans — approximately 322.8 million people — had access to fixed wireline service at 100/20 Mbps. That represented an increase from 93.1% in June 2024 and 92.1% in June 2023.
When terrestrial fixed wireless is included, availability rose to 96.9%, representing approximately 333.1 million people. This was up from 96% in June 2024 and 94.5% in June 2023.
Consequently, the number of Americans without access to 100/20 Mbps fixed terrestrial broadband fell by approximately 23% between June 2024 and June 2025, and by nearly 43% over two years.
The national figures conceal substantial geographic differences. In June 2025:
Fixed wireline service reached 98.7% of urban residents, 75.3% of rural residents and 74.6% of people on Tribal lands.
Including fixed wireless increased coverage to 99.5% in urban areas, 86.7% in rural areas and 87.6% on Tribal lands.
Rural terrestrial availability improved considerably, rising from 76.5% in June 2023 to 86.7% in June 2025.
Availability on Tribal lands increased from 79.3% to 87.6% over the same period.
The report says fixed wireless made a particularly important contribution outside urban areas: its inclusion increased the share of rural residents with access to 100/20 Mbps service by more than ten percentage points.
Continuing gaps on Tribal lands
Deployment varied substantially among different categories of Tribal lands. By June 2025, fixed wireline coverage at 100/20 Mbps reached approximately 96% of residents of urban Tribal lands but only 57% of residents of rural Tribal lands.
Rural Alaskan villages had particularly limited wireline availability, at approximately 41%. Adding fixed wireless increased terrestrial coverage in rural Alaskan villages to approximately 57%.
On federal reservations, wireline service reached approximately 56% of the population overall and 45% in rural portions. Terrestrial coverage, including fixed wireless, reached approximately 75% overall and 67% in rural portions.
The data show improvement in nearly every major Tribal category between June 2024 and June 2025.
Satellite broadband
The Commission estimates that satellite providers report 100/20 Mbps availability to approximately 99.7% of the U.S. population. When satellite is combined with wireline and fixed wireless, the FCC classifies approximately 343.7 million Americans as having access to qualifying fixed broadband.
On this basis, the report says only approximately 25,000 people — roughly one in every 14,000 Americans — lack access to any fixed service advertised at 100/20 Mbps.
The Commission does not treat satellite and terrestrial services as identical. It acknowledges that satellite service may be constrained by:
Obstructions between the customer terminal and the satellite;
Local capacity limitations;
Congestion during high-demand periods;
Variable speeds depending on location, time and subscription plan;
Higher latency in remote regions; and
Additional charges in capacity-constrained areas.
Gomez argues these limitations make the 99.7% figure misleading as a measure of usable broadband. She cites data indicating that fewer than half of satellite customers actually experienced 100/20 Mbps service during 2025, and that customers in fewer than half of the states received median upload speeds of 20 Mbps.
Typical satellite performance ranged from 45 to 280 Mbps downstream and 10 to 30 Mbps upstream. In remote locations such as parts of Alaska, latency could exceed 100 milliseconds. Gomez contrasts that with indications that many emerging artificial-intelligence applications may require latency below 30 milliseconds and stronger uplink capacity.
She also points to capacity studies suggesting satellite may not sustain 100/20 Mbps service where subscriber density rises above relatively low levels. In some high-demand areas, satellite providers have imposed one-time demand charges of up to $1,500 on new or relocating customers.
Fixed broadband competition
The FCC reports increasing consumer choice even though the total number of companies reporting residential fixed service declined.
In June 2025, 2,082 entities reported some form of residential fixed broadband service. The number of providers fell by approximately 4% from June 2024, with a slightly greater decline among rural providers. Most companies were small: only 13 providers, including three satellite operators, reported availability to at least 5% of the national population.
At the 100/20 Mbps benchmark, household choices improved:
For wireline service alone, 5.7% of households had no provider, 40.6% had one, 44.3% had two and 9.4% had three or more.
Including fixed wireless, 3% had no provider, 20% had one, 33.6% had two and 43.3% had at least three.
Including satellite, 3.1% had only one option, 20% had two and 76.9% had three or more.
The share of households with at least three terrestrial providers rose from 27.8% in June 2023 to 43.3% in June 2025 — an increase of approximately 56%.
Competition remained markedly weaker in rural and Tribal areas. Approximately 85% of urban households had at least two terrestrial providers, compared with 47% of rural households and 61% of households on Tribal lands.
For wireline service alone, approximately 62% of urban households had at least two choices, compared with 23% of rural households and 34% of households on Tribal lands.
Mobile benchmark and methodology
The FCC does not establish a single formal mobile benchmark because mobile performance varies with terrain, network load, device characteristics and whether the user is stationary or moving.
For its principal analysis, the Commission uses outdoor stationary 5G New Radio coverage at a minimum advertised speed of 35/3 Mbps — the highest mobile speed tier currently collected through the Broadband Data Collection.
The report also examines in-vehicle 5G at 35/3 Mbps, lower-speed 5G at 7/1 Mbps and 4G LTE at 5/1 Mbps, saying these additional measurements provide a fuller picture of mobile availability, particularly where 35/3 Mbps service has not yet been deployed.
Mobile deployment and competition
By June 2025, 95.2% of the population had outdoor access to at least one facilities-based 5G provider offering 35/3 Mbps. The number of people without such service fell by almost 16% in one year and by more than 30% between June 2023 and June 2025.
Coverage varied significantly depending on whether it was measured by population, road mileage or land area:
At least one 35/3 Mbps provider covered 95.2% of the population, 69.2% of road miles and 39.2% of the country’s land area.
At least two providers covered 87.8% of the population, 49.5% of road miles and 20.3% of land area.
At least three providers covered 73.8% of the population, 32.1% of road miles and only 8.4% of land area.
Urban residents had considerably more choice: three or more providers covered 85.6% of the urban population but only 30.1% of the rural population and 49.3% of the population on Tribal lands.
The geographic disparity was even greater along roads. Three-provider coverage reached 83.5% of urban road miles, compared with 15.3% of rural road miles and 15.9% of roads on Tribal lands.
The analysis covers facilities-based providers and therefore does not count mobile virtual network operators that resell capacity on another company’s network.
Combined fixed and mobile access
The FCC also examines whether Americans have access to both fixed broadband at 100/20 Mbps and mobile 5G at 35/3 Mbps.
As of June 2025:
90.5% had both qualifying wireline service and mobile 5G.
93.2% had both qualifying terrestrial fixed service and mobile 5G.
95.2% had mobile 5G and any qualifying fixed service, including satellite.
Geographic differences were again large. Qualifying wireline and mobile service reached 98% of urban residents but only 61.1% of rural residents and 69% of people on Tribal lands.
Including fixed wireless raised combined terrestrial availability to 98.9% in urban areas, 71% in rural areas and 79.6% on Tribal lands. Including satellite raised the figures to 99.3% in urban areas, 79% in rural areas and 85.6% on Tribal lands.
Demographic patterns
The Commission examines availability by census block group population, population density and per-capita income, finding that broadband availability generally rises with population density and income.
Densely populated census block groups were substantially more likely to have several fixed providers than the least densely populated areas. Areas with both 100/20 Mbps fixed service and 35/3 Mbps mobile service also tended to have larger populations, greater density and higher per-capita income than unserved areas.
The relationship with income was present but less uniform than the relationship with density. The strongest and most consistent divide was geographic: sparsely populated rural and Tribal communities remained much harder and more expensive to serve.
The Commission describes these demographic tables as information required by Section 706 rather than as an assessment of equitable access. Under its narrower interpretation, the presence of demographic disparities does not by itself determine whether national deployment is reasonable and timely.
Federally funded deployment
The FCC combines Broadband Data Collection information with its Broadband Funding Map to estimate how many unserved people live in areas covered by enforceable federal funding commitments.
Of the approximately 10.58 million people without 100/20 Mbps terrestrial broadband in June 2025:
Approximately 3.39 million, or 32.1%, lived in locations with an enforceable federal funding commitment.
Approximately 7.19 million, or 67.9%, lived in locations for which the map showed no direct funding commitment.
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund accounted for commitments covering approximately 1.63 million unserved people. The Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund covered approximately 723,000, while Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model support covered approximately 452,000. USDA’s Rural eConnectivity Program accounted for approximately 295,000.
These figures do not include all awards from the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. They also do not reflect broadband constructed after June 2025 or more recently reported federal projects. The Commission cautions that the 7.19 million figure likely overstates the population that currently lacks both service and committed funding.
Schools and classrooms
The FCC retains a short-term school connectivity benchmark of one gigabit per second for every 1,000 students, equivalent to one megabit per second per student.
It declines to adopt a long-term benchmark, arguing future requirements are difficult to predict and that an aspirational standard could become obsolete or distort network investment.
Because Connect K-12 stopped publishing its annual report after 2023, FCC staff recreated a comparable analysis using E-Rate data, estimating that 78% of the measured entities met the benchmark in 2024, up from 74% in 2023.
The Commission also developed a student-level methodology, calculating the bandwidth available to students at the school or building receiving the service rather than asking whether an entire district met the target.
Under that approach, the proportion of students attending schools with at least one Mbps per student increased from 32% in 2021 to 52% in 2025. Urban coverage rose from 31% to 50%, while rural coverage increased from 35% to 55%. In 32 states, at least half of students attended schools meeting the benchmark in 2025.
Mapping and data collection
The FCC identifies the Broadband Data Collection and National Broadband Map as central tools for evaluating deployment. Providers submit location-level fixed availability and standardized mobile propagation data, while consumers, governments and other organizations can challenge reported coverage.
The report uses data current through June 2025, with provider revisions received through December 30, 2025. It notes that the June 2025 dataset used in the report did not yet incorporate availability challenges filed after its initial publication.
The Commission has also aligned parts of its Universal Service Fund reporting systems with the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric so that funded deployments can be compared more directly with availability shown on the National Broadband Map.
Removing deployment barriers
The report presents the FCC’s Build America agenda as a major component of its efforts to accelerate broadband construction. Its actions include:
Streamlining environmental and historic-preservation reviews;
Accelerating wireless facility siting;
Addressing delays and costs associated with utility-pole attachments;
Simplifying replacement of aging copper networks with fiber and other modern infrastructure;
Reducing regulatory requirements regarded as obsolete;
Improving coordination with state, local and Tribal authorities; and
Reviewing rules that may discourage private infrastructure investment.
The Commission argues that faster permitting, more predictable timelines and lower construction costs can expand service without relying solely on subsidies.
Wireless, spectrum and satellite initiatives
The FCC identifies spectrum availability as essential to continued mobile and fixed-wireless deployment. It reviews work to restore and use its spectrum-auction authority, identify additional bands for commercial service and promote more efficient sharing of underused frequencies.
The report also covers emerging direct-to-device satellite service, which can connect ordinary mobile devices outside terrestrial coverage. It says the technology is developing from emergency messaging toward more extensive two-way communications.
For satellite broadband, the Commission has streamlined application and licensing processes, addressed spectrum sharing and encouraged additional constellations to compete with existing operators. It treats satellite, fixed wireless, fiber, cable and hybrid networks as complementary parts of the national connectivity system.
High-cost universal-service support
The FCC’s high-cost programs support deployment in locations where expected revenue is insufficient to justify commercial construction.
The report reviews ongoing obligations under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model and other legacy mechanisms. Enhanced A-CAM participants are required to deploy or maintain 100/20 Mbps service at specified locations in exchange for long-term support.
In May 2026, the Commission opened a proceeding on reforming the High-Cost Program for an all-IP future, examining whether legacy support mechanisms remain efficient, how support should be targeted and what should happen when existing A-CAM programs expire.
The Alaska Connect Fund consolidates several forms of high-cost support for remote parts of Alaska. Fixed carriers were authorized to receive approximately $107.6 million annually from 2025 through 2028 while the FCC evaluates the effects of BEAD and other federal programs. Mobile carriers were authorized to receive approximately $96 million annually through 2034, with future obligations increasingly tied to 5G deployment and Broadband Data Collection coverage.
Schools, libraries and healthcare
Demand for E-Rate support reached approximately $3.23 billion for funding year 2025. Of this, approximately $1.81 billion covered connectivity reaching schools and libraries, while $1.42 billion supported internal connections and related equipment.
The Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program is providing up to $200 million over three years to examine whether the Universal Service Fund should support cybersecurity equipment and services. Initial funding decisions were issued in December 2025.
Demand for the Rural Health Care Program reached approximately $787 million in funding year 2025, a 4.5% increase over the previous year. More than 14,400 healthcare providers participated in the Healthcare Connect Fund, while 936 used the Telecommunications Program.
The Connected Care Pilot Program provided up to $100 million for projects serving patients remotely, with priority given to low-income patients and veterans. It covered 85% of eligible broadband, network equipment and information-service costs.
Chairman Carr’s statement
Chairman Brendan Carr describes the report as evidence that the digital divide is rapidly closing. He highlights the expansion of 5G, the 44% two-year reduction in rural residents without 100/20 Mbps terrestrial service and the growing proportion of households with at least three fixed options.
Carr attributes the gains to private investment, regulatory changes and the Commission’s Build America agenda. He also cites falling wireless prices and improved fixed-wireless performance, including a 25.1% increase in download speeds and a 36.9% increase in upload speeds between late 2024 and early 2026.
He says the FCC will continue streamlining infrastructure construction, transitioning networks away from obsolete copper facilities and expanding the spectrum pipeline.
Commissioner Gomez’s concurrence
Commissioner Anna Gomez agrees that deployment has progressed and that the Commission must continue closing the remaining gaps. Her concurrence, however, sharply questions the report’s definition of availability.
Gomez argues that access to affordable, reliable, low-latency broadband will be necessary for participation in an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Communities that already lack strong educational, healthcare and public infrastructure risk falling further behind if the FCC treats the physical presence of infrastructure as sufficient.
She objects particularly to the treatment of satellite coverage and the elimination of the future gigabit benchmark. In her view, the report presents an overly optimistic picture by not measuring whether customers can afford service or consistently receive the advertised speed and quality.
Gomez nevertheless acknowledges that the final report was amended to recognize some satellite usability limitations. She concurs because she supports much of the deployment analysis but cannot endorse the decision to omit affordability and usability.
Commissioner Trusty’s statement
Commissioner Olivia Trusty characterizes universal connectivity as both a sprint and a marathon: the immediate objective is to connect people who remain unserved, while the longer-term objective is to build reliable and resilient networks capable of supporting artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
Trusty emphasizes that Section 706 is now only one element of a broader FCC data and policy framework. The Broadband DATA Act, National Broadband Map, Broadband Funding Map, spectrum policy and federal deployment programs all inform decisions outside the annual Section 706 finding.
She supports the conclusion that deployment is reasonable and timely while stressing that the FCC, Congress, federal agencies, state and local governments, Tribal authorities and private providers all have continuing roles.
Final assessment
The report documents substantial and measurable progress. Terrestrial fixed coverage expanded, fixed wireless produced major gains in rural areas, mobile 5G reached more than 95% of the population and competition increased for many households.
It also demonstrates that the remaining digital divide is highly concentrated. People without qualifying service are disproportionately located in rural, sparsely populated and Tribal communities. They have fewer provider choices, weaker mobile coverage along roads and across large geographic areas, and greater dependence on public support or satellite alternatives.
The central policy dispute concerns the meaning of “availability.” The Commission majority measures whether a provider reports that infrastructure and qualifying service are present. Gomez argues that availability should also reflect whether residents can afford the service and whether it reliably delivers the speed, capacity and latency needed in practice.
An FCC erratum issued August 18, 2026 corrects the report’s Starlink statistics. The revised language states that SpaceX reported more than 10,200 broadband and mobile satellites in orbit and that its global subscriber base grew from six million to 12 million between June 30, 2025 and June 30, 2026. The correction does not change the Commission’s overall Section 706 determination.
NOTES
The following claims in this summary come from sections of the report (¶¶55–136, including the High-Cost/E-Rate/Rural Health Care detail and the individual Carr/Gomez/Trusty statements) that were not part of the primary-source excerpt verified against FCC 26-55 directly. They are consistent with the record and not contradicted by anything checked, but are flagged as unverified rather than confirmed:
Gomez’s specific satellite-usage data (sub-50% of customers hitting 100/20 Mbps; sub-50% of states at 20 Mbps median upload), the 45–280/10–30 Mbps performance range, the <30ms AI-latency figure, and the $1,500 demand-surcharge figure.
Gomez’s “>85% of RDOF awardees committed to gigabit service.”
Carr’s wireless pricing/speed statistics (25.1% download / 36.9% upload increase, late 2024–early 2026).
Trusty’s “sprint and marathon” framing (plausible characterization; exact language unconfirmed).
E-Rate/Rural Health Care dollar figures ($3.23B, $1.81B, $1.42B, $200M Cybersecurity Pilot, $787M/4.5%, 14,400 providers, 936 Telecom Program, $100M/85% Connected Care).
Confirmed independently despite falling outside the fetched excerpt: the Alaska Connect Fund figures ($107.6M/year fixed through 2028; $96M/year mobile through 2034) match the underlying FCC order (FCC 24-116 / FCC 25-61).
COMMENTARY
If the FCC Abolishes America’s 1 Gig Goal for Broadband Speed... — Bruce Kushnick of New Networks Institute/IRREGULATORS argues that eliminating the long-term gigabit target, which the final report goes on to adopt, will leave U.S. networks obsolete within a decade
IRREGULATORS to FCC: We Want the Broadband Money Back and Investigations — Kushnick’s companion filing disputes the Commission’s “return to plain language” framing and calls for audits of carrier broadband spending
Groups to FCC: Continue Assessing Broadband Affordability, Adoption — Public Knowledge, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and X-Lab warned in the run-up to the report that narrowing the inquiry to deployment alone would let the agency “grade our nation on a curve”
FCC broadband study points to broader service reach — Light Reading’s trade coverage of the adopted report frames it as evidence of a competitive market driving faster, more available service
FCC Finds U.S. Broadband Deployment Accelerating — Converge Digest summarizes the report’s headline availability figures and situates them alongside the FCC’s parallel push to retire legacy copper networks
RESOURCES
2026 Section 706 Report (FCC 26-55) — the full text of the report
Erratum, GN Docket No. 25-223 (Aug. 18, 2026) — corrects the report’s Starlink satellite-count and subscriber figures
Nineteenth Section 706 Report Notice of Inquiry — the 2025 proceeding that proposed the interpretive changes the final report adopts
The IRREGULATORS — the independent telecom-analyst consortium, co-led by Bruce Kushnick, that has filed in Section 706 proceedings since 1998
New Networks Institute — Kushnick’s research organization, founded in 1992 to track post-divestiture telecom investment
Public Knowledge — public-interest group that pressed the FCC to keep affordability and adoption within the Section 706 inquiry
Benton Institute for Broadband & Society — broadband-policy research organization referenced throughout the report’s comment record
FCC Broadband Data Collection / National Broadband Map — the primary dataset underlying the report’s availability estimates