Telecommunication in the United States of America

Development of telephone and internet connections

With an average download speed of 198.17 Mbit/second for fixed-network broadband internet, the United States of America ranks 9th in an international comparison. The upload rate of only 22.89 Mbit/second was significantly lower (86th place).
In mobile internet, i.e., on tablets and smartphones, the United States comes 19th with a download speed of 82.27 Mbit/second. The upload speed of around 10 Mbit was only enough for 95th place.

The Speedtest Global Index published regularly by Ookla is based on several million individual measurements in February 2023 from 180 countries.

The following diagrams show the development of the various telephone and internet connections as a percentage of the country's population. Values above 100 percent mean that, on average, every inhabitant has more than one connection.

Access to the internet in the United States of America from 1990 - 2020

Broadband internet in the United States of America 1998 - 2021

The United States of America is doing very well in the expansion of broadband internet connections. Around 91 percent of all residents have access to the internet. Around 38 percent have their own fast internet connection, which is at least faster than the former ISDN (more than 256 kbit/s). All fixed connections via DSL, cable or satellite were counted here, but not those connected to the internet via mobile communications.

The increasing prevalence of cell phones and the simultaneous decline in landline phones clearly indicate a change in the United States of America. While the number of landlines has fallen significantly in recent years, the spread of cell phones has risen to 109 cell phone subscriptions per 100 people at last count. Such a clear shift does not occur in all countries, but the trend points in the same direction internationally.

All international calling codes