This report is the first in a two-part series on U.S. fixed broadband experience. In this part, we will cover the national fixed broadband landscape, while the second part covers experience in the largest 50 Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

News in the U.S. fixed broadband space centers on two key themes: consolidation, and network expansion – both in terms of additional homes passed, and improved network capabilities.

This is most evident among the telcos, where operators are using acquisitions to accelerate fiber footprint growth. T-Mobile’s expansion in particular illustrates this approach. FWA remains its primary source of net additions according to Opensignal subscriber analytics, while its acquisitions of Lumos and Metronet represent the majority of its fiber subscribers. Its planned acquisitions of i3 Broadband, GoNetspeed and Greenlight Networks therefore represent a continuation of this strategy: using regional providers to scale its footprint.

A similar pattern is visible across the other national operators. Verizon’s acquisitions of Frontier and Starry expand its fiber footprint and FWA capabilities respectively, while AT&T’s purchase of Lumen’s fiber assets and EchoStar spectrum for FWA echo the same approach. The merger of Google Fiber and Astound suggests this consolidation is not limited to national operators, but reflects broader pressure for providers of all sizes to scale. This also extends to cablecos, where the FCC has now greenlit Charter’s merger with Cox. The deal is due to complete later in 2026.

Alongside acquisitions, AT&T’s $250 billion investment plan highlights the continued importance of organic network expansion. Its strategy combines fiber deployment with the gradual shutdown of legacy copper infrastructure, using FWA as a fallback in areas where fiber economics are less favorable. This points to a hybrid approach, where cost and coverage constraints determine which technologies operators deploy.

Network investment is also the focus for the cablecos, Comcast and Charter, specifically on the move to DOCSIS 4.0. Comcast’s DOCSIS 4.0 deployment, now reaching millions of homes, and Charter’s positioning of DOCSIS 4.0 as a core part of its growth strategy, both reflect an effort to increase network performance, in particular around upload. For consumers, this allows cable networks to deliver more symmetrical speeds, narrowing the upload performance gap with fiber.

In this report, we focus on the five Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the U.S. with the most extensive service areas: AT&T, Spectrum (Charter), T-Mobile, Verizon, and Xfinity (Comcast). All award tables are technology-agnostic and include a blend of different types of ISP technology access (cable, DSL, FWA, and fiber). At this stage, Charter’s results do not include Cox data, Verizon’s results do not include Frontier, and T-Mobile’s results do not include T-Fiber.

We also conduct five head-to-head comparisons between the analyzed ISPs by looking at how each broadband provider compares against its direct competitors based on the extent of the overlap of each provider’s service area. Overlaps are based on Q1 2026 Opensignal service territories.

These five head-to-head comparisons between the analyzed ISPs look at how each broadband provider compares against its direct competitors based on the extent of the overlap of each provider’s service area. Overlaps are based on Q1 2026 Opensignal service territories.