Summary Infrastructure Fiber Access All providers
Between Spectrum and Frontier Fios, the majority of households in Long Beach have two wired internet options — a pattern that’s common in Los Angeles and surrounding cities. Fiber and Cable are the two most common options, although in low-income areas Cable and DSL are also a common combination of home wiring.
Local government survey findings show that as recently as 2018:
- One in four Long Beach households had no internet access at home independent of a mobile phone connection.
- One in six Long Beach residents do not have access to speeds above 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload (the federal definition of high-speed broadband internet service).
- $10–30/month is the price that most low-income households indicate they can bear, while consumer internet-only plans in the Long Beach market are mostly in the $40–70/month range. 1
Summary of internet access in Long Beach
We’ve found a total of 17 internet providers in Long Beach: 6 residential providers and 11 business-only providers.
However, only 4 of those companies offer service to more than 1% of the Long Beach population. 13 local companies offer niche business service to small coverage areas, mostly enterprise services in business districts.
Small business internet is commonly available from the same companies offering residential internet in Long Beach. 5 of the residential providers locally offer SMB (Small-Medium Business) services at this time.
Wired internet network coverage in Long Beach
Internet customers in Long Beach are actually in a stronger position to get lower prices than those elsewhere in the greater Los Angeles area, thanks to the widespread coverage by Frontier Fios locally.
Since both Frontier and Spectrum offer “promotional rates” for new customers, it’s common for residents to switch back and forth between the providers in order to take advantage of new promotions. (See my guide to negotiating a lower Spectrum bill for more information.)
Coverage by network type in Long Beach is as follows:
Local internet service options in Long Beach
Long Beach does not have any local internet service startups like those in other major California cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. However, 5G home service is from T-Mobile is currently being piloted for some buildings around downtown.
While the city has been grappling with how to handle the digital divide due to renewed need for work-from-home and online education post-Covid, the city’s issues have less to do with high-speed access and more to do with the cost of service in a duopoly broadband market.
Subsidy plans have been available for years in Long Beach thanks to public-private partnerships between nonprofits, government, and local providers. However, the speeds for basic $10/month service are often slower than mobile phone service, in the 5–10 Mbps range.
Infrastructure challenges to broadband internet access in Long Beach
While virtually all households earning above $75,000/year report internet access at home, only three quarters of those in the $20,000–30,000/year income bracket are able to afford service (or aquire it through public assistance programs).
Long Beach’s library system is a common lifeline for those seeking internet access, including the homeless population. The library serves $1.2M+ people annually. 2
Long Beach owns about 60 miles of dark fiber, making it one of 17 municipal broadband network areas in California. This network is currently under expansion and is used to power municipal buildings, traffic cameras, and power systems.
Fixed wireless internet options in Long Beach:
| Provider brand name | Network | FW coverage | Maximum download | Maximum upload |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimate Internet Access, Inc. | Fixed Wireless | 100% | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps |
1 Fixed Wireless Residential internet providers in Long Beach with at least 1% local coverage with their fixed wireless network. These providers may have other network types.
Fixed wireless service is only available for business and enterprise use in Long Beach. There is not currently a provider offering true residential fixed wireless as a cable/fiber competitor in the area, although some providers incorrectly filed service to the FCC in the most recent industry data report.
Fiber internet options in Long Beach
| Provider brand name | Network | Fiber coverage | Maximum download | Maximum upload |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Communications Corporation | Fiber | 95% | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps |
1 Fiber internet providers in Long Beach with at least 1% local coverage with their fiber network area. These providers may have other network types.
Fiber internet is widely available in Long Beach. Even in central Los Angeles, only around half of homes can access fiber. Thanks to Frontier Fios’s extensive fiber network, that’s not the case in Long Beach.
Frontier purchased their fiber network from Verizon Fios in 2016. As of 2020, all customers have been moved over to Frontier branding and pricing, although there is still some confusion locally about the difference between Frontier and Verizon Fios. In short, the only difference is the pricing and brand on the bill — the network infrastructure is the same, although Frontier has been handling maintenance for almost 5 years now and has expanded the network in some areas.
Frontier has taken criticism from the industry for failure to upgrade rural DSL networks in the less populated areas outside Long Beach. 3
All providers in Long Beach
| Provider brand name | Primary network | Primary network coverage | Maximum download | Maximum upload |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charter Communications Inc | Cable | 100% | 940 Mbps | 35 Mbps |
| Frontier Communications Corporation | DSL | 96% | 12 Mbps | 1 Mbps |
| Crown Castle Fiber | Fiber | 21% | 0 Mbps | 0 Mbps |
| AT&T California | DSL | 4% | 100 Mbps | 20 Mbps |
4 residential and business internet providers in Long Beach with at least 1% local coverage with their primary network type.
Low-coverage providers in Long Beach
| Provider brand name | Primary network | Primary network coverage | Maximum download | Maximum upload |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeoLinks | Fixed Wireless | 0.087% | 1000 Mbps | 1000 Mbps |
| Comcast | Cable | 0.011% | 987 Mbps | 35 Mbps |
| Consolidated Smart Broadband Systems, LLC | Cable | 0% | 500 Mbps | 50 Mbps |
3 residential internet providers in Long Beach with less than 1% local coverage. These are unlikely to be serviceable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the cable company in Long Beach?
Spectrum is the primary cable provider in Long Beach and the surrounding SoCal area. Spectrum offers speeds ranging from 200 Mbps up to 940 Mbps in Long Beach.
How bad is the digital divide in Long Beach?
While Long Beach has widespread broadband coverage, service is only available from one or two companies at any given address. As a result, consumers are often priced out of service, particularly in low-income neighborhoods with high rates and low fiber coverage. 28% of Long Beach households did not have a broadband internet connection above 25 Mbps download in 2018, due to either lack of access or high costs from a monopoly provider, according to city survey data.
