California Internet Service Facts & Statistics

California may be the heart of the internet economy, but the state is also at the center of some of the biggest issues facing broadband deployment in the US. As of 2024, 2.3 million California residents live in single-provider monopolies. While there are 137 residential internet providers in the state, most homes only have access to 1–2 options above 25 Mbps.

258 Mbps is the average internet speed recorded in California in 2024

47% of California residents have access to fiber-optic internet service in 2024

$149 Million Awarded by the FCC Connect America Fund to California ISPs serving rural areas in 2019

893,000+ California residents don't have access to internet at their home

137 residential internet providers in California

99.9% of California households have at least 1 Mbps mobile LTE coverage

Internet Access in California Cities

California accounts for 12% of the US population, with 87% of California residents living in major urban centers like Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco. The greater Los Angeles area alone has an equivalent GDP to the country of Turkey.

In spite of this, California often struggles to keep up when it comes to internet infrastructure. Only around half of Los Angeles can get fiber internet service, with many neighborhoods and apartment buildings limited to a single monoply provider.

Alongside infrastructure investments, low-income internet programs from major cable and telecom providers have emerged as a major tool for cities fighting the digital divide. These are particularly prominent in Xfinity footprint cities with large low-income populations like San Jose, Fresno, and Oakland.

Los Angeles Internet Access

The primary incumbent internet providers in Los Angeles are Spectrum cable and AT&T fiber, with coverage including the following LA neighborhoods: Koreatown, Silverlake, Hollywood, Echo Park, Atwater Village, Los Feliz. There are also a number of smaller local internet alternatives locally, in addition to the LA low-income internet programs offered by major providers.

Sacramento Internet Access

Sacramento is primarily served by Xfinity and AT&T Fiber. AT&T Fiber is expanding locally, especially in South-Central, Natomas, and North Sacramento. Sacramento low-income internet plans are limited to Xfinity and AT&T.

San Francisco Internet Access

The primary incumbent internet providers in San Francisco are Comcast Xfinity cable and AT&T DSL/Fiber. Both companies have widespread coverage in San Francisco neighborhoods including Sunset and Parkside, the Richmond District, Mission District, the Western Addition, and Bayview and Hunter's Point. San Francisco has a number of smaller alternative internet providers, including wired broadband resellers as well as a local fixed wireless provider. There are three low-income internet programs active in San Francisco.

Internet Service Access in Top California Cities

City	Fiber coverage reported	Local population with fiber access reported
Los Angeles	66.52%	2,422,473
San Diego	62.86%	785,389
San Francisco	65.31%	520,532
Sacramento	53.87%	239,765
Bakersfield	38.03%	116,347
Long Beach	95.66%	419,797
Anaheim	54.76%	160,715
Fresno	57.42%	243,589
Oakland	70.33%	261,784
San Jose	44.63%	379,644
Santa Ana	61.27%	186,647
Riverside	59.94%	174,100

Berkeley Fremont Hayward Modesto Roseville Salinas Stockton Sunnyvale Vallejo Visalia

Major Internet Service Providers in California

While there are 183 ISPs in California, the vast majority of service is provided by just a handful of major cable and copper wired telecom providers. Spectrum and Comcast alone account for 85% of cable coverage in California as measured by population within footprint. AT&T's DSL footprint, meanwhile, covers 71% of the state.

Accounting for residential, business, and enterprise companies across all technology types (excluding satellite internet and some municipal providers), 137 offer residential service, while 162 offer business services. 116 offer both residential and business service.

Rural internet in California is generally as question of DSL vs satellite internet, or fixed wireless. As of 2024, Starlink service has opened to public sign-ups; but the high cost of equipment remains a major barrier for low-income users.

Spectrum Cable

Spectrum internet from Charter Communications has a cable coverage area comprising just over 50% of all households in the state. Their coverage is primarily in Southern California, including Los Angeles. They have 230,228 census blocks registered for residential cable service within California.

Spectrum has 3 plan tiers: Standard, Ultra, and GIG. Their pricing strategy includes tiered pricing and WiFi leasing fees, meaning that consumer bills commonly increase 31% or more after the first 12 months of service. Spectrum cancellation is managed by phone or in-person. Spectrum deals for existing customers, seniors, and veterans are scarce. The cheapest Spectrum plans start at $49.99, while pricing for Spectrum sports packages starts at $89.98. There are a variety of Spectrum bill extension options for customers experiencing economic hardship.

Spectrum's largest markets in California outside LA are Long Beach, Bakersfield, Anaheim, and Riverside.

Comcast Xfinity

Xfinity is the second-largest cable internet provider in California, with coverage reaching a reported almost 34% of households within the state, primarily serving Northern California, including the Bay Area.

Xfinity offers a variety of plans, including a Gigabit plan. Like most cable companies, they do not extend promotions for existing customers, and do not have a dedicated senior discount. Xfinity pricing is variable compared with Spectrum, includes WiFi equipment fees, and can differ widely based on location. Pricing is tiered and increases after 12 months for most plans. The cheapest Xfinity plans start at $29.99. Xfnity has a unique debt amnesty program for low-income households, among other Xfinity bill extension and payment arrangement options.

Comcast's largest markets outside San Francisco are San Jose, Sacramento, and Fresno.

Cox Cable

Cox is the third-largest cable internet provider in California by coverage area, reaching approximately 9% of state households according to FCC filings.

Cox offers several promotional plans for new customers, including a gigabit download coaxial offering advertised as Gigablast. Existing customers can access promotional rates, which increase after 12 months. Customers can lower their Cox bill by cord-cutting, removing WiFi fees, or annual negotiation calls with their cancellation department. Due to competition from Google Fiber and AT&T Fiber, Cox is keen to retain existing cable subscribers, especially if they have a TV bundle. The cheapest Cox plans start at $20 per month, with no military or senior discounts. Cox maintains a variety of bill extension and payment options for low-income customers.

Cox's coverage area is primarily around Orange County and San Diego.

AT&T Internet

AT&T has the single largest broadband footprint in California, with their DSL network alone comprising 71% of state broadband access. Their growing Fiber-to-the-Home footprint extends to 17% of California households, and has been growing into 2024.

AT&T internet pricing is broken into fiber and DSL consumer service areas, with the DSL area commonly advertised as IPBB service. There are no AT&T senior discounts or veteran & military discounts among their cheapest deals, but they do offer low-income plans with age-related qualifications. As of 2024, the company does not prorate bills when customers cancel AT&T internet service. They have folded most of their TV offerings other than DirecTV into a streaming service called DIRECTV STREAM. The company primarily competes with AT&T alternatives from cable companies like Spectrum and Xfinity.

AT&T's largest coverage areas outside Los Angeles are in San Diego, San Jose, and Sacramento.

AT&T's largest fiber markets in California are LA, San Francisco, San Deigo, San Jose, and Sacramento

Sonic Internet

Sonic is the largest competative local exchange carrier serving consumers with wired broadband in California, with their service mostly centered around San Francisco and the Bay Area. Their FCC filings show 2% Fiber-to-the-Home coverage in California, however due to delays in processing and expansion efforts we believe the actual footprint size is closer to 3–6%, as measured by population in footprint.

Sonic has a growing fiber footprint in the Bay Area. They also offer IPBB service resold on the AT&T network, including in the LA area.

Frontier Fios

Frontier is the second-largest copper and consumer fiber provider in California, having purchased Verizon's Fios network in the area back in 2015. Their DSL network covers an estimated 24% of California households, with a fiber network extending to 13% of the state.

Frontier has been emerged from their bankruptcy process in 2021, resulting in a large network sale of their footprint to Ziply Fiber in the Pacific Northwest region. While some analysts expected to see sale of their California network, they ultimately were able to retain it and continue to operate now. Frontier cancellation is only possible by phone. Existing Frontier customers may lower their bills by calling to request discount extensions.

Top Residential Internet Providers

Our website also covers some local ISPs with footprints in the Western US, primarily Ziply Fiber. We've catalogued Ziply's prices after 12 months, senior discounts, cancellation process, cheapest plans, and a full review of their fiber Gig plan.
Provider	Service Type	Percent of CA households covered
AT&T Internet	DSL	71%
Charter Spectrum	Cable	50%
Comcast Xfinity	Cable	34%
Ultimate Internet Access, Inc.	Fixed Wireless	33%
Frontier Communications	DSL	23%
Etheric Networks, Inc.	Fixed Wireless	18%
AT&T Fiber	Fiber	17%
Frontier Communications Corporation	Fiber	13%
unWired Broadband Inc	Fixed Wireless	9%
Sonic Fiber	DSL	9%
Cox Cable	Cable	9%
Cruzio Internet	Fixed Wireless	8%
Starry, Inc.	Fixed Wireless	4%
Vast Networks	Fiber	4%

Broadband competition in California

While California has hundreds of individual ISPs, the average household only has one or two wired internet options that's capable of delivering service above 100 Mbps download. This is because outside areas where fiber has been built out, service is delivered over telephone and cable TV lines — both businesses that historically hold franchises or exclusive rights to regions, with the result on only one TV line and one telephone line per building.

Most homes in California have a choice between decent but crowded cable lines, telephone lines limited to 25 Mbps download or less, or — if they're lucky — fiber from a telephone company or via an overbuilder like Sonic or Google Fiber.

The following are the most common provider choices within the California region:

Internet Infrastructure in California

Network technology	Population covered	Coverage percent
Cable	35,499,593	95%
DSL	35,433,257	95%
Fiber	18,627,617	50%
Fixed Wireless	28,621,464	77%

The table above shows percent coverage of each major network type in California according to the latest FCC Form 477 data release we've processed.

Note that due to over-reporting by providers, coverage at the building level is not as robust as this data presents. Fixed wireless service from providers like Starry Internet, in particular, has much lower coverage than it appears based on FCC data sources — which are currently the only public source of national broadband data.

ConnectCalifornia Consumer Internet Guides

We publish practical guides to help regular California residents navigate the internet safely and effectively.

Data Sources & Citations

FCC Reports and Research
NTIA: National Telecommunications and Information Administration
FCC Form 477 Fixed Broadband Deployment Data
Telegeography: a Division of PriMetrica, Inc.
Measurement Lab: Open Internet Measurement

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Last Update: January 30, 2024
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