Broadband Affordability Falters in 2025

Editor's Note: Published on Dec. 12, 2025; republished on Jan. 4, 2026.

Affordability was the political buzzword of 2025.

12 Days of Broadband 2025 (click to open)

• On the First Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__One Carr driving the Federal Communications Commission .
• On the Second Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__Two superpowers racing toward AI superintelligence dominance .
• On the Third Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:Three branches of government (and some formerly independent agencies).
• On the Fourth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__Four programs with Universal Service Funds .
• On the Fifth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__56 states and territories without digital equity grants.
• On the Sixth Day of Broadband, my true level sent to me:__Less than 6 months for a broadband permit .
• On the Seventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__Data center-powered electricity bills up 70 percent .
• On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__800 megahertz of spectrum to sell at auction .
• On the Ninth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__$9 billion + 12 billion (or $21 billion) in BEAD remaining funds .
• On the Tenth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__Not even $10/month for an affordable connectivity program .
• On the Eleventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__Through BEAD and broadband, 110 million locations served .
• On the Twelfth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:__More than 1200 megahertz of spectrum for unlicensed wireless .

Click to read each of the 12 Days of Broadband articles!

But when it came to the affordability of broadband, a conversation that dominated 2024 after a federal subsidy helping one in six U.S. families afford Internet service expired – the topic barely surfaced in 2025.

Governors skipped the topic in their State of the State addresses this year; New York City’s newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani did not broach it on the campaign trail, despite his platform centered on affordable housing, transit, and other cost-of-living issues; and Vice PresidentJ.D. Vance , who campaigned on the issue in 2024, made little mention in his first year in office.

This post is for subscribers only

Become a member to get access to all content

Subscribe now