Is Broadband's ‘Price War’ Real? Not Everyone Agrees.

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2026 – Wireline operators say broadband is in a price war. Broadband policy advocates say prices are rising. Both filed comments with the FCC this week.

Dozens of comments filed Thursday will inform the FCC's 2026 Communications Marketplace Report, a congressionally mandated assessment of competition across broadband, wireless, video, satellite, and audio markets.

ACA Connects, which represents smaller cable operators, said multiple members described today's broadband market as being “in the middle of a price war” driven by competition from fiber, cable, fixed wireless, and low-earth orbit satellite providers.

The group cited industry research showing broadband prices fell roughly 8 percent year-over-year, with gigabit plans down 9 percent and entry-level plans down more than 17 percent after inflation adjustment. 

USTelecom, representing AT&T and other large wireline carriers, said prices for popular plans fell 63.9 percent in inflation-adjusted terms since 2014.

The Fiber Broadband Association said fiber now reaches more than 60 percent of U.S. households with nearly 40 million homes connected as of September 2025. More than 15 percent of U.S. homes now have access to at least two fiber providers, it said.

Broadband market remains highly concentrated

However, INCOMPAS, representing competitive carriers, said the broadband marketplace remains highly concentrated and consumers and small businesses have insufficient choice.

The group cited FCC data showing a median broadband market Herfindahl-Hirschman Index of approximately 7,222 at the census-tract level, nearly three times the 2,500 threshold economists use to define highly concentrated markets. 

About 26 percent of broadband locations have access to only one provider at 100 Megabits per second download and 20 Megabits per second upload speeds, it said.

Advocates say prices are rising 

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society cited FCC Urban Rate Survey data showing average broadband prices increased 4.8 percent in inflation-adjusted terms between 2024 and 2025. Fiber broadband prices rose 12.8 percent in real terms over the same period and 40.1 percent since 2020, it said.

Plans priced at $30 or less fell from 9 percent of broadband offerings while the Affordable Connectivity Program was active to just 3 percent in the 2025 survey.

“There is ample evidence for the Commission to find that the state of competition in the broadband internet access service marketplace is not serving the needs of low-income consumers,” Senior Fellow John Horrigan wrote on behalf of the Benton Institute.

Fixed wireless reshapes the market

CTIA, the wireless industry association, argued “the U.S. wireless industry has never been more competitive,” in a filing with the FCC.

5G-powered fixed wireless growth accounted for approximately 99 percent of all fixed broadband net additions over the past three years, CTIA said. Cable lost more than 1.7 million broadband subscribers in 2025 as fixed wireless added 3.9 million customers.

WISPA, which represents wireless internet service providers, said fixed wireless adoption grew approximately 47 percent, reaching nearly 11.8 million subscribers nationwide. 

Rural mobile carriers push back

The Competitive Carriers Association said the mobile market has become “increasingly concentrated” and “increasingly difficult for smaller providers to navigate sustainably.” It cited the Justice Department's warning that the wireless industry is at a “pivotal moment” after decades of consolidation following its review of the T-Mobile/UScellular transaction.

In rural areas, only about 43 percent of the population had access to two 5G providers, CCA said. It cited a comment from Verizon chief executive Daniel Schulman that “95 percent or more” of terrestrial wireless revenue comes from urban and suburban areas.

The Rural Wireless Association said wireless competition “has diminished significantly” since the FCC's 2024 report, citing DOJ's warning that the T-Mobile/UScellular deal would reinforce the "Big 3's oligopoly" among AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

Video and audio

The Motion Picture Association said U.S. online video subscriptions grew 19 percent from 2024 to 593 million in 2025, with consumers subscribing to an average of 4.5 streaming services across more than 195 providers. It argued the FCC should avoid intervening in the market.

The National Association of Broadcasters said streaming's share of TV viewing was more than twice broadcasting's share in February 2026, citing Nielsen data. Inflation-adjusted television advertising revenue fell 56.3 percent between 2000 and 2025, and YouTube alone accounted for nearly 13 percent of total TV usage, it said. The NAB called on the FCC to eliminate the national broadcast ownership cap.

Connoisseur Media cited Edison Research data showing podcast listening surpassed broadcast radio for spoken-word audio consumption in 2025 for the first time. Digital media's share of local advertising grew from 26 percent in 2013 to 73 percent in 2025, it said.

Permitting and mapping

Some broadband providers urged the commission to move expeditiously to eliminate barriers to competitive broadband deployment. 

NTCA – The Rural Association said 45 percent of its members identified regulatory uncertainty as a significant deployment barrier and 41.3 percent identified permitting delays. ACA Connects, INCOMPAS, CTIA, and the Wireless Infrastructure Association raised similar complaints.

NTCA also challenged the FCC's National Broadband Map, arguing it measures only theoretical availability rather than actual service and should not be used alone to allocate broadband funding such as Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program eligibility.

Reply comments are due June 22, 2026. The FCC is required to publish the 2026 Communications Marketplace Report to Congress by the end of the year.