Study Suggests Far More Households Lacking Internet Than FCC Says

A recent report suggests that twice as many Americans lack internet service than what the Federal Communications Commission has estimated. The Hagstrom Report says the study by BroadbandNow Research puts the number of Americans lacking internet access at 43 million, rather than the FCC’s estimate of 21.3 million. The report blames the discrepancy on the FCC relying on semi-annual self-reporting by internet service providers, where they consider an entire census block as covered by that provider, even if only one house has internet access. BroadbandNow Research says it believes that “provider reporting on address-level availability is the best and most transparent way to understand and quantify the digital divide.” They also want the FCC’s reporting to be more timely, as their most recent public data comes from required forms submitted to the FCC at least a year ago.