The NCTA, or the Rural Broadband Association, released its “2024 Broadband-Internet Availability Survey Report.”
The group says it capped off a year in which NCTA members made remarkable strides in delivering on the promise of robust and reliable high-speed connectivity in the most rural parts of the U.S.
Despite operating in rural areas where the average density is less than seven locations per mile, approximately 89 percent of respondents’ customers, on-average, can receive downstream speeds greater than or equal to 100 Mbps, up from 84 percent in 2023.
More than 76 percent of customers on average have access to Gigabit downstream speeds, an increase from 67 percent in 2023. Upload speeds continue to increase as well. Over 67 percent of respondents’ customers, on average, subscribe to 100 Mbps downstream broadband or better, up from just under 60 percent in the 2023 survey.
Deployment costs remain the largest expansion barrier.
-NAFB