{"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","dataset":"reports","count":1,"filters":{"report":"fixed-broadband-geographic-concentration-2020-2024","reportMatched":true,"reportId":"rep-fixed-broadband-geography","reportSlug":"fixed-broadband-geographic-concentration-2020-2024","reportTitle":"Fixed Broadband Concentration Across Geographic Scales, 2020-2024"},"rows":[{"id":"rep-fixed-broadband-geography","slug":"fixed-broadband-geographic-concentration-2020-2024","title":"Fixed Broadband Concentration Across Geographic Scales, 2020-2024","subtitle":"National HHI rose while median state, county, and census-tract concentration fell","summary":"A source-backed research brief on nine FCC fixed-broadband reporting periods, the divergent paths of national and subnational median HHI, and the public evidence needed to move from geographic screens to mechanisms and outcomes.","body":"From December 2020 to December 2024, the FCC-reported national HHI for residential fixed connections of at least 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream rose from 1,171 to 1,501, an increase of 330 points. Over the same endpoints, the median of separately calculated state HHIs fell from 3,328 to 2,937, the county median fell from 6,739 to 4,599, and the census-tract median fell from 7,195 to 5,504. All three subnational medians remained above 2,500 in December 2024. The semiannual path matters: national HHI reached 1,605 in June 2024 before ending at 1,501, so endpoint changes do not describe every movement. The complete evidence packet contains 36 rows across nine reporting periods and four geographic summaries. These values share an HHI scale but not one geographic meaning. The national value and the state, county, and tract medians are not interchangeable legal market definitions, and a median does not reveal the full distribution within or across areas. The release does not provide the provider identities and shares needed to inspect local structure directly or connect concentration to prices, speeds, quality, adoption, entry, buildout, subsidies, outages, switching, or competitive effects. The observed divergence is therefore a research finding and oversight signal, not a causal conclusion.","coverImageUrl":"/generated-assets/report-cover-concentration.png","publishedAt":"2026-07-24","relatedMarketIds":["mkt-fixed-broadband"],"sourceIds":["fcc-internet-access-dec-2024"],"sourceBasis":"Federal Communications Commission Internet Access Services Figure 5, covering nine semiannual reporting periods from December 2020 through December 2024 for residential fixed connections meeting the 100/20 Mbps threshold. The packet preserves the national HHI and medians of separately calculated state, county, and census-tract HHIs as distinct geographic summaries.","tableOfContents":["Geographic concentration paths","Endpoint divergence ledger","Exact observation ledger","Public evidence agenda","Reproduction packet","Methodology and limits"],"preview":"A four-scale FCC concentration history showing why a rising national HHI and falling subnational medians must be read together without converting them into one market.","publicationType":"research_brief","seriesTitle":"Competition Research Briefs","seriesNumber":"AR-RB-2026-06","authorName":"Antitrust Radar Research Team","version":"1.0","updatedAt":"2026-07-24","publicationStatus":"current","revisionNote":"Initial public edition.","canonicalCitation":"Antitrust Radar Research Team. (2026, July 24). Fixed Broadband Concentration Across Geographic Scales, 2020-2024: National HHI rose while median state, county, and census-tract concentration fell. Competition Research Briefs, AR-RB-2026-06 (Version 1.0). Antitrust Radar. https://antitrustradar.org/reports/fixed-broadband-geographic-concentration-2020-2024","citationDownloads":{"bibtex":"/reports/fixed-broadband-geographic-concentration-2020-2024/citation/bibtex","ris":"/reports/fixed-broadband-geographic-concentration-2020-2024/citation/ris"},"sourceProfileHrefs":["/sources/fcc-internet-access-dec-2024"]}]}