May 19, 2026
Download:
Home internet prices fall for 11 straight years as speeds skyrocket
Broadband prices a big bright spot for consumers as 1 in 3 households now subscribe to higher speed gigabit plans
USTelecom’s 2026 Broadband Pricing Index (BPI) is an annual analysis of U.S. residential broadband pricing and performance. The report finds that broadband internet has delivered a consistent trend of falling real prices and dramatically faster speeds for eleven consecutive years, which stands apart from nearly every other category of household spending.
Key Findings:
Prices keep falling across the board:
- Real prices for the most popular internet services (100–940 Mbps) fell 6.0% year over year in 2025, and are down 43.6% in real terms since 2014.
- Gigabit plans declined 4.9% in real terms in 2025; down 48.9% since 2016.
- Nominal prices held essentially flat while inflation-adjusted purchasing power continued to improve.
Entry-level plans post the steepest drops:
- For the first time, the BPI breaks out pricing across three speed tiers in the 100-940 Mbps range. Price declines occurred in every speed tier.
- Plans in the 100–249 Mbps tier — the most accessible tier for price-sensitive households — saw the largest decline: down 17.2% in real terms in a single year and 39.6% over two years.
Speeds are rising alongside falling prices:
- Average download speeds for the most popular plans have risen 145% since 2014; upload speeds are up roughly 95%.
- The real price per megabit has dropped more than 85% since 2014, meaning consumers are paying less for a service that does dramatically more.
- One in three households now subscribe to super high speed gigabit plans.
Consumers don’t rank internet as a household cost concern:
- In a national poll of 1,500 likely voters conducted March 2026, just 2% named home internet service as a top household cost concern. It was the lowest of any category surveyed.
What’s driving these gains?
The BPI finds that competition among investors and intense private investment are the two biggest drivers of lower prices and rising speeds. Healthy rivalry in the broadband internet sector keeps pressure on pricing. Meanwhile, providers invest nearly $90 billion in communications infrastructure annually, funding the network upgrades that deliver higher speeds at lower prices.
Policy Implications
Continued progress is not guaranteed. Maintaining momentum that benefits consumers requires a policy approach that embraces a growing national, bipartisan consensus:
- Modernize outdated copper network requirements: More than 20 states have already moved to untether consumers from legacy copper infrastructure, and the FCC’s March 2026 order accelerating copper retirement reflects a broader shift. Completing this transition frees capital for modern fiber and next-generation network investment, particularly in underserved rural communities.
- Fix permitting delays: Fragmented and outdated local, state, and federal permitting processes slow broadband construction and raise deployment costs. Enacting permitting reform would accelerate buildout and lower costs for consumers.