FCC report: Broadband providers mostly meet advertised speeds

Most broadband Internet service providers deliver speeds roughly equivalent to their advertised claims, according to a study released on Friday by the Federal Communications Commission.

The report found that Internet providers delivered 97 percent of advertised speeds during peak hours. 

The performance is a modest improvement over previous FCC reports on the issue. Commission analysts concluded that the improvement was mostly the result of boosts in network performance as opposed to just lowering advertising claims.

Cablevision, Comcast, Mediacom and Verizon's fiber services all met or exceeded their advertised speeds in the FCC test. Windstream performed the worst in the study, meeting only about 81 percent of advertised download speeds during peak hours. AT&T, Centurylink, Frontier, Insight, Qwest and Verizon DSL exceeded 80 percent of advertised download speeds, but fell short of fully meeting their claims.

“Faster broadband has brought untold benefits to millions of Americans — from distance learning to distance healthcare," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement. "This is good news for consumers and the economy, but we can’t be satisfied. To unleash innovation and realize broadband’s full potential, we must continue to see increases in broadband speed and capacity.”

Satellite Internet providers performed especially well in the study. Satellite Internet users, many of whom live in rural areas with no other broadband options, experience especially high latency. But the commission found that 90 percent of satellite users received at least 140 percent of the advertised speed of 12 Megabits per second (Mbps).

The FCC also found that consumers are increasingly paying for faster tiers of broadband. The average speed tier that consumers subscribe to increased from 14.3 Mbps in the July 2012 report to 15.6 MBps.

The report released on Friday was based on data collected last September.

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