Connected Nation shares new insights on broadband pricing

Bowling Green, Ky. (October 2, 2025) - Last month at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC), Connected Nation (CN) Research Analyst David Nunnally shared new insights on broadband prices across Louisville neighborhoods.

The study found that broadband prices between the top fiber provider and the city’s top cable provider ranged from $0.10 to $0.22 per megabit per second (Mbps) across Louisville neighborhoods. For the city’s top fiber provider (based on the number of households served), the average cost of broadband service was $0.11 per Mbps.

CN’s study highlights how broadband pricing can differ from one neighborhood to the next and seeks to explain some of those cost differences. Slower broadband plans, while less expensive overall, tend to be more expensive per megabit per second.

The full study will be released soon, but these preliminary results already show how the broadband packages offered to consumers and the types of available broadband competition can impact broadband pricing.

This is the 53rd year TPRC has brought together researchers, educators, students, and government agencies from around the world to shed light on the many issues related to high-speed internet service. Other studies presented at the conference spotlighted topics such as:

• How recent changes in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program will affect broadband availability
• The legal, technical, and ethical challenges surrounding the increased usage of artificial intelligence (AI).
• How policies surrounding broadband infrastructure technology, such as wireless spectrum and low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, can affect our day-to-day lives.

To stay on top of the many research efforts underway at CN, you can follow us on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Also, check out our website to see how we are working to keep communities and decision-makers informed.