NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association’s “2025 Broadband/Internet Availability Survey Report,” shows that more than 9-in-10 (92%) of respondents have service with download speeds of at least 100 Mbps available to them, up from 89% in 2024.
Additionally, nearly 8-in-10 (79%) customers have 1 Gbps service available to them, up from 76% in the previous annual report.
Other report highlights include:
- Three-quarters of respondents subscribe to 100 Mbps or more downstream broadband — an increase form 67% last year and less than half (48%) in 2024.
- Subscriptions for 100 Mbps and higher-speed downstream services are more popular than lower-speed offerings for the fourth consecutive year.
- More than 90% of “key institutions” — schools, public safety entities, 911 call centers, libraries and hospitals — have broadband connections.
- Respondents said they had an average of 5,988 residential fixed broadband connections in service in 2025, an increase from the 5,257of 2024. Business fixed broadband services averaged 575, up from 524 in 2024.
- Respondents had an average of 2,692 residential fixed voice connections and 1,022 business fixed voice connections in service. No exact comparison is available for the previous report because the 2025 survey asked for fixed voice connections of any kind, while the 2024 survey asked for voice connections that include voice grade access lines and VoIP lines.
Among the conclusions that NTCA derived from the latest report were:
- Although the cost of deployment remains the leading challenge, other barriers include distance, regulatory uncertainty, permitting and inflation. However, supply chain delays have eased.
- Broadband service to anchor institutions remains strong, with fiber widely available and both maximum and purchased speeds rebounding sharply in 2025 after last year’s dip.
