2026 Urban Rate Study

One of the more curious undertakings done by the Federal Communications Commission every year is the Urban Rate Study. This is an annual exercise to determine the highest monthly broadband rates that Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETC) can charge. This basically means regulated carriers and other internet service providers that participate in some grant or subsidy programs. At a minimum, these rate caps apply to incumbent rate-of-return telephone companies and internet service providers (ISPs) that participated in the Rural Broadband Experiment, Connect America Fund Phase II Auction, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, and Enhanced A-CAM. These rate caps will apply to any Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program winners that are certified as an ETC. These rate caps also apply to any ISP that voluntarily became an ETC in order to participate in any other subsidy program, such as the Universal Service Fund. The FCC publishes this rate near the end of each year, and by July 1 of the following year, every ETC must certify to the FCC that it doesn’t charge a rate higher than the benchmarks. The FCC determines rate caps for an interesting mix of speeds that match the minimum speed goals set over the years for different subsidy programs. The FCC samples actual rates in the market and sets the target rates by applying two standard deviations. The FCC also sets the minimum size of any rate cap, and for 2026 has raised any monthly rate caps to provide at least 800 megabytes of data as of July 2026.