October 11, 2023
Shows 18% Price Year-Over-Year Drop in Providers’ Most Popular Tier of Service as Speeds Continue to Increase
Washington, D.C. – Today, USTelecom–The Broadband Association, released the 2023 Broadband Pricing Index (BPI), the fourth installment of USTelecom’s annual report, showing continued good news for broadband consumers, including an 18% drop year-over-year in the price of providers’ most popular broadband speed tier (Real BPI-Consumer Choice) and a 6.5% drop year-over-year in the price of providers’ fastest speed tier (Real BPI-Speed). Even without accounting for inflation, this pricing trend is in direct contrast to the rising cost of overall goods and services, which is up nearly 5% in a similar one-year period.
“This data shows the U.S. broadband market is clearly working. Broadband competition is continuing to drive unprecedented value for U.S. consumers who are connecting at faster speeds and lower prices,” said USTelecom President and CEO Jonathan Spalter. “As the cost of housing, groceries, transportation, and other expenses continue to climb, broadband has emerged as one of the most cost-effective consumer services.”
The new data builds on consistent trends over the past eight years, showing prices for both the most popular and fastest tiers, when accounting for inflation, down by 55% since 2015. Over the same period, download speeds for the most popular service offerings got significantly faster, accelerating by more than 140%, and download speeds for the fastest service offerings were up 117%.
The combination of faster speeds and lower prices has translated into an approximately 80% reduction over the past eight years in the real price per megabit for the most popular and fastest service offerings – allowing many consumers to do far more with their broadband service than ever before.
Key Findings:
Real (Inflation-Adjusted) Broadband Prices Continued to Fall from 2022 to 2023:
Real BPI-Consumer Choice broadband prices dropped by 18.1%.
Real BPI-Speed broadband prices dropped by 6.5%.
Broadband prices continue to substantially lag the rising cost of overall consumer goods and services, which climbed 4.9% from March 2022 to March 2023.
Real Broadband Prices Have Dropped by More than Half from 2015 to 2023:
Real BPI-Consumer Choice tier prices dropped by 54.7%.
Real BPI-Speed broadband prices dropped by 55.8%.
Meanwhile, prices for overall consumer goods and services rose by 27.8%.
Read USTelecom’s 2023 Broadband Pricing Index HERE.