Fees proved even particularly confounding. It quickly became clear how hard it must be for many consumers to decipher their own bills.Ĭomcast/Xfinity, the nation’s biggest ISP, is among several companies that don’t list the price for internet separately when that service is bundled together with cable TV and phone service. While this is not a nationally representative study and is not predictive of the broadband market, it is one of the most ambitious efforts of its kind to understand how much consumers are paying at a moment in time. Researchers did not extract personally identifiable information from the bills only ZIP codes were retained to let researchers look for regional differences in billing and service.ĬR then spent more than 10 months extracting and analyzing data from the bills. Many participants also took internet speed tests, and completed a survey designed to capture demographic data and to gauge their satisfaction with and the reliability of their internet service. The volunteers who contributed their bills had various types of internet service, including coaxial cable, fiber optic, satellite, fixed wireless, and DSL. Virgin Islands, and from close to 700 separate ISPs. To generate an independent overview, the CR investigation collected bills from consumers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Research on broadband access and pricing typically relies on industry-reported data. Studies have found that internet prices are generally lower in communities where two or more ISPs offer internet service. The investigation also provided further indications of a problem consumer advocates have highlighted for years: Many households lack much meaningful choice when it comes to internet service providers. And it’s hard for kids to succeed in school without a fast, stable broadband connection in their home. Even as the pandemic eases, many people still work from home and use the internet to access healthcare. The needs have been sharpened by COVID-19. Data from the project will be used to support a public-service and advocacy campaign called “Fight for a Fair Internet,” to encourage lawmakers, regulators, and internet service providers (ISPs) to improve broadband access and affordability. Those problems emerged from an analysis of more than 22,000 internet bills that Consumer Reports and several partner organizations collected from people around the country. In addition, many internet bills are confusing, making it difficult and sometimes impossible for consumers to compare prices when shopping for a better, less expensive plan. In communities across the country, millions of people find it hard to find or afford a reliable high-speed internet connection. “When I was teaching school remotely, we had people walking around their trailers holding up MyFi mobile hotspots just so their kids could be in school,” she says.Įast Carroll is not unusual. I’ll be in a meeting one minute, and the next minute I’ll find I’m no longer online.”īut Manning, a retired teacher who is part of a local church organization that has made headlines fighting to bring better internet service to East Carroll, is better off than many others in the community, who either don’t have internet or have to rely on dial-up service. “I often have problems staying connected. “I’m paying a lot of money each month, about $140, to get internet and phone service, but the internet isn’t dependable,” she says. Like many of her neighbors in East Carroll parish, in rural northeast Louisiana, Wanda Manning has struggled to get decent, affordable internet service.
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