Statutory Standard and the 2026 Section 706 Finding
On August 13, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission adopted its 2026 Section 706 Report in GN Docket No. 25-223 (FCC 26-55, released August 14, 2026). Pursuant to Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, codified at 47 U.S.C. § 1302, the Commission concluded that advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.
The Commission returned to a progress-based statutory assessment focused strictly on incremental changes in broadband availability and deployment. In doing so, the Commission departed from the 2024 Report framework, which had incorporated non-statutory universal service criteria such as adoption, affordability, and equitable access. The Commission determined that Supreme Court precedent under Loper Bright and the plain text of Section 706 limit the inquiry to the physical deployment and availability of advanced telecommunications capability.
- Inquiry Docket: GN Docket No. 25-223; Document Number: FCC 26-55.
- Statutory Standard: 47 U.S.C. § 1302(b) review of whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.
- Commission Voting: Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty issued separate statements; Commissioner Anna Gomez concurred and issued a statement.
Broadband Performance Benchmarks
The Commission maintained the fixed broadband speed benchmark at 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload (100/20 Mbps). The Report abolished without replacement the aspirational long-term goal of 1,000/500 Mbps that had been established in the 2024 Report, finding that long-term goals are not authorized by the text of Section 706 and could compromise technological neutrality.
For mobile services, the Commission declined to set a single availability benchmark due to temporal and geographic variability. Instead, it focused its primary mobile evaluation on 5G New Radio (5G-NR) coverage meeting a 35/3 Mbps threshold in an outdoor stationary environment based on Broadband Data Collection (BDC) data.
For elementary and secondary educational facilities, the Commission maintained its short-term connectivity benchmark of 1 Gbps per 1,000 students (or 1 Mbps per student) and declined to establish a long-term school benchmark.
- Fixed Benchmark: Maintained at 100/20 Mbps; long-term 1,000/500 Mbps goal eliminated.
- Mobile Benchmark: Evaluated using 5G-NR at 35/3 Mbps (outdoor stationary), with supplemental tracking of 5G-NR at 7/1 Mbps and 4G LTE at 5/1 Mbps in outdoor and in-vehicle environments.
- Schools Benchmark: Maintained at 1 Gbps per 1,000 students (1 Mbps per student).
Fixed and Mobile Deployment Data
Evaluating provider-reported data from the BDC as of June 30, 2025, across an evaluated population of 343.683 million Americans, the Commission reported notable reductions in unserved populations. The number of Americans lacking access to 100/20 Mbps fixed terrestrial broadband service decreased by approximately 23% between June 2024 and June 2025, and by approximately 43% from June 2023 to June 2025.
In rural areas, the percentage of the population lacking access to 100/20 Mbps fixed terrestrial service fell by over 44% between June 2023 and June 2025. When satellite services were included, fixed broadband deployment at 100/20 Mbps reached approximately 99.7% of the U.S. population, though the Report noted operational caveats regarding satellite usability during peak network congestion.
Mobile 5G-NR coverage at speeds of at least 35/3 Mbps expanded to cover 95.2% of the total population as of June 2025, up from 94.3% in June 2024 and 93.0% in June 2023.
- Fixed Wireline (100/20 Mbps): 93.9% nationwide coverage (98.7% urban, 75.3% rural, 74.6% Tribal lands).
- Fixed Terrestrial (100/20 Mbps): 96.9% nationwide coverage (99.5% urban, 86.7% rural, 87.6% Tribal lands).
- Any Fixed Service including Satellite (100/20 Mbps): 100.0% nationwide (99.7% of evaluated population).
- Mobile 5G-NR (35/3 Mbps, Outdoor): 95.2% nationwide coverage (99.3% urban, 79.0% rural, 85.6% Tribal lands).
- Concurrent Fixed Terrestrial and Mobile 5G-NR: 93.2% nationwide (98.9% urban, 71.0% rural, 79.6% Tribal lands).
High-Cost Universal Service Support and Infrastructure Initiatives
From the beginning of 2024 through year-end 2025, the FCC's fixed High-Cost Universal Service Fund programs incentivized broadband deployment to approximately 1.7 million housing units at speeds of 100/20 Mbps or greater and supported ongoing service to 3.2 million housing units, representing $3.639 billion in annual funding support.
The Report highlighted several regulatory streamlining initiatives under the Commission's Build America Agenda, including the elimination of mandatory licensed professional engineer requirements in the BDC, streamlining legacy TDM-to-IP transition rules, updating pole attachment timelines under Section 224, and advancing spectrum pipelines under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB Act), which reauthorized general auction authority through September 30, 2034.
- Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF): $5.750 billion authorized for over 3.2 million locations nationwide as of June 2026.
- Enhanced A-CAM: Authorized over $18 billion over a 15-year term to support 500,000 unserved locations and maintain service at 2 million locations.
- Spectrum Actions: Reallocation of 160 megahertz of Upper C-Band (3.98–4.2 GHz) spectrum for terrestrial flexible use, alongside approvals for direct-to-device (D2D) and satellite operations involving SpaceX, EchoStar, and AST.