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More than two decades after the World Wide Web hit the mainstream, most people in the United States use the internet in some capacity every day, whether it’s on their phone while they browse social media apps or at home while they work. But many Americans don’t have a choice about what internet service provider they can use.
Service Provider Monopolies
Comcast, Charter, and AT&T hold a monopoly over most internet services in the country.
A 2020 Institute for Local Self-Reliance report showed that 83.3 million Americans can only access broadband through one provider. It also states that Comcast and Charter have a monopoly over at least 47 million people nationwide.
Anyone who lives in an urban area can sometimes pick between two or more service providers, but you are typically out of luck if you live in a rural part of the country.
The report shows that big tech companies have neglected rural America, and sometimes their DSL networks don’t support broadband speeds.
When shopping for internet service providers, another issue is that the National Broadband Map by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can be confusing to some.
The map shows consumers how many broadband providers they can use in their area, but it can be confusing at first glance because it doesn’t separate what internet service is provided specifically to businesses, and sometimes there are duplicates of the same providers. For example, at a specific address in Studio City, Calif., there are 10 providers listed in the National Broadband Map, but anyone who lives in a home or apartment in the area can actually only use three– Charter Communications, AT&T and T-Mobile. Three is genuinely great compared to some areas where consumers only have one or two options, but that is still less than the original 10 options on the map. It turns out the other providers listed are either specifically for businesses (fixed wireless), satellites, or duplicates of the company.
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89 thoughts onTCA Explains: Why Are Internet Providers So Bad?
I pay over $100 for hughesnet, very slow and I keep add data very poor service but it the only provided in the county
Please add me
Well I don’t have a choice because I live in a rural area and I can’t even get service. Before I moved here, which is around the corner from the apartment I could only have suddenlink. But I didn’t understand why I can’t get internet service here and it’s practically a street over from the Doyline high school.
Charter is horrible money hungry company. Won’t help anyone and hangs up on you
Add me to the list, I can see ATT driving around but they are. It in my area all I can use is Sparklight. Sparklight charges me each month for going over useage even though they tell me to upgrade. I have upgraded twice and even after that I still get charged for overage use and requested to change my plan.
I got Satellite internet{now, Viasat} back in 2014, in N.H.; but, when the weather is bad at the source, I lose service. When it snows, I can also lose service. As a senior on SS, I could only afford the lowest amount of data; so, I’m not able to access the webinars/tv shows/summits I’d like to see–unless I add more data–costly!
Comcast service is unreliable until you call then a week later slows to a crawl again….
Add me please. Thank you!
add me my only choice is Comcast or satellite for Tv and internet
Microsoft started telling me there was a problem with my account. When I tried to solve the problem, I was told I had the wrong email address. It is the same address I have had since I started using the computer.
A few months later Facebook started the same game. Same thing I had the wrong address. They then locked me out of my page for several months. While I was locked out, I often received a copy of posts made to my page at the email address Facebook claimed was the wrong address.
If my address was wrong; why were they sending posts made to my page to the address they claimed was not my correct address?