Internet users love fiber service—too bad you probably can’t get it
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Yuichiro Chino)
Fiber-to-the-home Internet service is the clear favorite of US broadband users, but unfortunately most people in the US have no access to the technology, the American Customer Satisfaction Index said today.
"Across the entire customer experience, fiber service shows a strong advantage-from data transfer speed and service reliability to touchpoints like call centers and websites," Forrest Morgeson, ACSI director of research emeritus and a marketing professor at Michigan State University, said in a press release announcing the ACSI's latest research. "That said, with well over half of US households lacking access to fiber internet, availability remains a sticking point. As such, non-fiber ISP services remain an attractive option for many customers and should not be overlooked by providers."
One reason that customers like fiber is that it offers higher upload speeds than cable and other technologies. But cable companies dominate the US broadband market. According to data from Leichtman Research Group, the top US cable companies had 76.2 million broadband subscribers by the end of Q1 2023. The top wireline phone companies had 30.8 million Internet subscribers including both fiber and slower DSL.