Most US Households on Track to Having Broadband Provider Competition: ACA Connects

By the end of 2025, more than 90% of U.S. households will have access to at least one broadband provider offering 100/20 Mbps service and at least one offering 25/3 Mbps service, ACA Connects said in a white paper Thursday. Citing FCC data and trend lines, it said 84% of households will have access to at least two providers offering 100/20 Mbps service. The paper said increased competition, plus FCC ability to regulate prices and speeds for broadband services it subsidizes, makes moot any supposed need "for common-carrier-style regulatory intervention." It said 7% of U.S. households are in areas served by a subsidized broadband provider, and the number of those households will grow in coming years due to the FCC's broadband equity, access and deployment program spending and other federal stimulus programs. ACA urged that even if there is common-carrier-style regulation on larger broadband providers, smaller operators should be exempt.