Contact: Lauren Gaydos, 703-351-2015
Arlington, Va., (December 21, 2021)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association today released its “2021 Broadband/Internet Availability Survey Report,” showing that despite ongoing challenges of serving the most sparsely populated parts of the country and notwithstanding pandemic-related supply chain concerns, rural broadband providers have continued to increase broadband speeds available to rural Americans by offering more fiber-to-the-home services than ever before.
“When the pandemic hit our country last year, NTCA members stepped up to the plate to keep their neighbors connected and extend services to neighboring communities in need. I’m proud to share that our small, community-based providers continued this trend in 2021, expanding fiber broadband service to some of the farthest reaches of our country and bringing higher speeds to more rural Americans so they could continue working, learning and engaging with family and friends online,” said NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield. “As we stand now on the cusp of once-in-a-generation investment to bring connectivity to all Americans, NTCA members have proven they are up to the task of delivering the best possible networks in rural communities—and they are eager to prove themselves again and build upon this success as these new programs come online.”
Survey highlights include:
- NTCA members continue to lead the charge in deploying fiber-to-the-home networks that enable higher speeds in rural America. More than three-quarters (75.6%) of respondents’ customers can receive downstream speeds greater than/equal to 100 Mbps, compared to 67.8% in 2020, and 55.4% of customers have access to Gigabit downstream speed, up from 45.1% in 2020. Additionally, 75% of respondents’ customers are served by fiber-to-the-home connections, up from 69.9% in 2020 and 58% in 2018.
- More customers are subscribing to higher speeds. More than 37% of respondents’ customers subscribe to 100 Mbps broadband or better, up from just over 28% in the 2020 survey.
- More than two-thirds of NTCA members offer their customers the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB). Of the survey respondents that offer the EBB, one-third reported that 50 or more customers signed up for the discounted service.
- NTCA members continue to provide critically important broadband service to schools, libraries, and other anchor institutions in their communities. Respondents offer robust levels of fixed broadband service to all public libraries, community colleges, state universities and extensions, 911 call centers, and hospitals/medical clinics located within their communities, and nearly all primary/secondary schools and public safety entities (police, fire department). In addition, NTCA members provided higher speeds to these anchor institutions than in past years.
- However, NTCA members continue to face pandemic-related supply chain concerns. The percentage of respondents citing fiber order fulfillment delays as a barrier to widespread broadband deployment increased from 27.7% in 2020 to 57% in 2021, and 80.4% experienced an inability or delay in procuring supplies for network deployment this year. The impact of these delays or inability to procure necessary equipment has led to delays installing services for customers and delayed network construction for approximately two-thirds of responding companies.
The 2021 Broadband/Internet Availability Survey was conducted in August 2021, and 35.1% of NTCA’s nearly 850 members responded. The average service area of respondents is approximately 1,906 square miles.
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovative change in smart rural communities across America. In an era of transformative technological developments, regulatory challenges and marketplace competition, NTCA members are advancing efforts to close the digital divide by delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks. Their commitment to building sustainable networks makes rural communities fertile ground for innovation in economic development, e-commerce, health care, agriculture and education, and it contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year. Visit us at www.ntca.org.