Have Average U.S. Fixed Network Internet Access Speeds Climbed Above 100 Mbps?

It often is unwise to rely on older data in markets that move fast, as is the internet access market, which saw global average speeds grow by 23 percent from 2017 to 2018 alone. 

U.S. internet access speeds might be climbing even faster. U.S. fixed network speeds in 2018 climbed 36 percent, according to Ookla. In the third quarter of 2018, for example, average downstream speeds were 96 Mbps, upload speeds 33 Mbps.

source: Speedtest

Already, the latest Federal Communications Commission report on U.S. internet access speeds is wildly out of date, based on 2017 data. That is not a knock on the FCC, just a recognition that such data tends to lag by about two years before it is reported to the public. And speeds are climbing fast. 

In December 2017, three percent of fixed connections (or 3 million connections) were slower than 3 Mbps downstream, 11 percent (or 12 million connections) were at least 3 Mbps downstream but slower than 10 Mbps, 17 percent (or 18 million connections) were at least 10 Mbps downstream but slower than 25 Mbps, 32 percent (or 34 million connections) were at least 25 Mbps downstream but slower than 100 Mbps, and 38 percent(or 41 million connections) were at least 100 Mbps, according to the FCC. 

Where in 2017 perhaps 63 percent of connections ran at less than 100 Mbps, Ookla data from mid-2018 suggests half of connections were running at speeds less than 100 Mbps. 

U.S. Fixed Network Internet Access Speeds, End of 2017
Speed (downstream)	Locations, Millions	% of Connections
Less than 3 Mbps	3	3
3 Mbps to 10 Mbps	12	11
10 Mbps to 25 Mbps	18	17
25 Mbps to 100 Mbps	34	32
More than 100 Mbps	41	38
Source: FCC data, IP Carrier table

It is not yet clear how much average speeds will grow in 2019, except to note that speeds will continue to get faster.