Broadband Breakfast Interview with BroadbandNow about Lower Costs and Lower Latency

February 25, 2021 – Broadband Breakfast Editor and Publisher Drew Clark interviewed BroadbandNow Editor-in-Chief Tyler Cooper for an exploration of the State of Broadband quarterly report, with a particular focus on the progress being made to bring every American online amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the report’s key findings include:

• Low-priced access expanded during the fourth quarter across many states as more providers expanded their lower cost offerings. A total of 70 percent of Americans had access to low-priced wired broadband plans compared to 52 percent, measured year over year against the 2019 Q4 report.
• Rhode Island remains the state with the highest percentage of residents with access to low-priced plans of speeds 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 25 Mbps upload.
• While 78 percent of Americans have access to wired providers who report that they can service speeds of 100 Mbps download / 25 Mbps upload, only 30 percent of Americans have access to low-priced plans at that speed.
• For the first time, residents in Alaska have gained access to low-priced broadband plans. Despite this, less than 1 percent of the population has access. All 50 states plus the District of Columbia now have some level of access to low-priced plans.
• 21 states had improved or steady internet latency, compared to Q3. The state with the least latency is New Jersey, the one with the most is Hawaii.

Listen to the 18-minute interview to hear how Clark and Cooper dive into a discussion of improving broadband speeds through lower latency, and improving (or lowering) monthly costs for a broadband subscription.

The full report, “The State of Broadband in America, Q4 2020,” is authored by Cooper and Julia Tanberk.

This Broadband Breakfast interview is sponsored by:

See also:

• Broadband Breakfast Interview with Tyler Cooper and Jenna Tanberk about Open Data Set from Broadband Now, November 20, 2020
• Broadband Breakfast Interview with BroadbandNow about Gigabit Coverage and Unreliable FCC Data, December 27, 2020
• Broadband Breakfast Interview with BroadbandNow about Lower Costs and Lower Latency, February 25, 2021
• Broadband Breakfast Interview with John Busby of BroadbandNow About FCC Data Errors, July 1, 2021