November 14, 2023Bill Callahan

FCC broadband data: Poorer Cuyahoga neighborhoods are still likeliest to get old, slow AT&T service

As the Federal Communications Commission considers launching its Digital Discrimination initiative at its Open Meeting tomorrow, an analysis of  data collected for the agency’s newest Broadband Map shows that Cuyahoga County’s lowest-income neighborhoods are still far more likely than others to be stuck with old, slow home “broadband” service from AT&T.

Using December 2022 information provided by AT&T to the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection, together with Census tract household income data from the American Community Survey, Connect Your Community has determined that for nearly half (48%) of all its serviceable locations in Cuyahoga County tracts with median annual household incomes below $35,000, AT&T reported maximum speeds below 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up… i.e. below the FCC’s threshold  for defining Internet service as “broadband”.

This means those locations — most, but not all, of which are on the East Side of the city of Cleveland — can only receive AT&T wireline Internet service in the form of pre-2007 ADSL connections.  They’ve been passed over by two major system upgrades during the past fifteen years: AT&T’s deployment of “fiber to the node” VDSL service between 2008 and 2013 (with advertised speeds now in the 25/3 to 100/20 Mbps range), and its subsequent deployment of AT&T Fiber between 2016 and 2019 (still happening, to a small extent).

As the chart below shows, the percentages of locations that are still stuck with these sub-broadband AT&T speeds in middle-income and upper-income Census tracts are much lower than 48%.  (Click to  enlarge.)

Because a “broadband serviceable location” often includes more than one residence or business — for example, in an apartment building — the chart includes the total number of households for all the tracts in each income group. So you can see (for example) that 48% of locations in tracts with median household incomes below $35,000 may well represent more than 50,000 households in those tracts with old, slow AT&T Internet access.

If these households had to rely solely on AT&T for broadband access, they would be officially considered “unserved” by BroadbandOhio and the Federal broadband funding program, as well as the FCC.  But they’re not, because almost all have an alternative — Spectrum (or Cox) cable modem service. At $85 a month for basic Internet-only service with a wifi modem, Spectrum costs about $20 more than AT&T, but it’s available if you can afford it. So rather than call Cuyahoga County residents who can’t get at least 25/3 Mbps service from AT&T “unserved”, it’s probably more accurate to call them “monopolized”.

Here are two maps showing the distribution of sub-broadband AT&T wireline Internet by Census tract throughout Cuyahoga County, as of December 2022. The first includes all of the county’s tracts, showing their percentages of AT&T locations with slow ADSL service in color-coded ranges. The second highlights the tracts in the 95% to 100% range, with a background showing median household incomes by tract. (Click on either map to enlarge it.)

Two other facts to keep in mind when looking at the chart and maps above:

  • All the “broadband serviceable locations” in these statistics are able to receive AT&T wireline service. There are switching centers connected to lines and poles in place to serve them, usually on permanent easements (or public rights of way) on adjacent tree lawns or back property lines. If a location is still limited to 2005-vintage technology,  it means AT&T has chosen not to upgrade its nearby facilities over the course of fifteen years and two “system-wide” upgrades. That’s a choice AT&T keeps re-making every day. It’s a feature of AT&T’s business plan, not a bug.
  • From extremely slow ADSL connections all the way up to 300 Mbps AT&T Fiber, AT&T charges all of its home Internet customers the same monthly rate (currently about $55-$60, depending on whether you agree to automatic payment).  There’s no discount for slower service.

Coming soon: A longer report on this analysis with all the data, more details, more maps and tips on how to do something similar for your community. Also: Some credit to AT&T where it’s due! Stay tuned.