“According to a recent industry report, US home internet has become much faster and cheaper over the past decade. Inflation-adjusted prices for popular broadband plans are down 43.6 percent since 2014, while average download speeds have improved by 145 percent,” reports The Doomslayer.
An internet provider explains:
USTelecom’s 2026 Broadband Pricing Index (BPI) is an annual analysis of U.S. residential broadband pricing and performance. The report finds that broadband internet has delivered a consistent trend of falling real prices and dramatically faster speeds for eleven consecutive years, which stands apart from nearly every other category of household spending.
- Real prices for the most popular internet services (100–940 Mbps) fell 6.0% year over year in 2025, and are down 43.6% in real terms since 2014.
- Gigabit plans declined 4.9% in real terms in 2025; down 48.9% since 2016.
- Nominal prices held essentially flat while inflation-adjusted purchasing power continued to improve.
Entry-level plans post the steepest drops:
- For the first time, the BPI breaks out pricing across three speed tiers in the 100-940 Mbps range. Price declines occurred in every speed tier.
- Plans in the 100–249 Mbps tier — the most accessible tier for price-sensitive households — saw the largest decline: down 17.2% in real terms in a single year and 39.6% over two years.
Speeds are rising alongside falling prices:
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Average download speeds for the most popular plans have risen 145% since 2014; upload speeds are up roughly 95%.
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The real price per megabit has dropped more than 85% since 2014, meaning consumers are paying less for a service that does dramatically more.
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One in three households now subscribe to super high speed gigabit plans.
Internet access is now feasible even in the most remote areas on Earth, thanks to things like Elon Musk’s company Starlink.
Internet usage has more than doubled in Africa, making mobile payments, online learning, and more economic activity possible.
Kenyan farmers are using artificial intelligence to grow more food. Kenya plans to build its first nuclear power plant. Drones are being used to fight malaria and save lives in western Kenya.
The African nation of Chad experiences periodic internet blackouts, such as after a recent flood, which cut off internet access for weeks. Chad’s economic development has been delayed by decades of civil war and by its being a landlocked country in an impoverished region.
