Internet in Birmingham, Alabama
Fiber is available at 53.5% of the 76,006 homes and businesses the FCC counts in Birmingham, and wired broadband of at least 100/20 Mbps at 95.8%. 54.6% of locations have a choice of two or more wired providers at that speed; at 41.1% there is only one.1
FCC National Broadband Map, availability as of June 30, 2026 (data revised November 10, 2026), as reported by providers.
Birmingham in Alabama
Birmingham runs on two wires: Spectrum's cable network, reported at 94.4% of its homes and businesses, and AT&T, whose fiber reaches 53.0%. In 2022 the city had more fiber than Alabama as a whole; by June 30, 2026 the state had moved well ahead, with fiber at 66.4% of locations against Birmingham's 53.5%1.
Who reports service in Birmingham
The FCC's National Broadband Map, as of June 30, 2026 (file revision of November 10, 2026), counts 76,006 homes and businesses inside Birmingham's 2020 city limits. Two companies have wires to nearly all of them. Spectrum reports service at 94.4%, with speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps everywhere it reports. AT&T reports service at 95.4%, but only part of it is fiber: AT&T offers 100/20 Mbps at 58.3%1 of locations, and elsewhere its connection is DSL or fixed wireless below that speed.
| AT&T | Fiber DSL Licensed wireless | 95.4% | 58.3% | 5 Gbps | 1.3% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spectrum | Fiber Cable | 94.4% | 94.4% | 1 Gbps | 39.8% |
| Verizon | Licensed wireless | 83.1% | 35.5% | 1 Gbps | – |
| T-Mobile | Fiber Licensed wireless | 80.9% | 32.0% | 5 Gbps | – |
| Brightspeed | Fiber DSL | 0.1% | 0.0% | 8 Gbps | 0.0% |
| C Spire | Fiber | 0.1% | 0.1% | 8 Gbps | – |
| Kinetic | Fiber DSL | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 Gbps | – |
| Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative Inc | Fiber | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 Gbps | 0.0% |
| REV | Fiber | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5 Gbps | – |
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Share of the area's broadband serviceable locations where the provider reports service as of June 30, 2026. "Only wired option" is the share of locations where it is the single wired provider at 100/20 Mbps. Provider-reported and challengeable; speeds are advertised maximums, not measured; no prices. Satellite providers (Starlink, Viasat, HughesNet) report service at nearly every location and are left out of the table.
Verizon and T-Mobile complete the list of providers with citywide reach, both by fixed wireless. The other wired names in the table, among them Kinetic, C Spire, Brightspeed and a telephone cooperative, report service at no more than a few hundred locations each. A provider counts as available when it tells the FCC it serves a location or could connect it within ten business days for a standard installation; residents can challenge the claim on the FCC map.
Fiber at about half the city, nearly all of it AT&T
Fiber from any provider reaches 53.5% of Birmingham's locations, the 101st lowest share among the 343 cities of 100,000 or more. AT&T accounts for almost all of it, with fiber at 53.0% of locations; Spectrum reports fiber at 0.5%. 8 companies report fiber somewhere in the city, but their networks rarely overlap: two or more fiber providers are reported at only 0.2%1 of locations.
The copper telephone network is still widely reported. DSL appears at 79.2% of locations, well above Alabama's 46.7% and the national 36.2%; among large cities its DSL share ranks tied for 26th highest1.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Share of broadband serviceable locations where at least one provider reports the technology, at any speed; a location can have several. Satellite is reported almost everywhere and is left out.
Show the numbers
| Technology | Birmingham | Alabama |
|---|---|---|
| Fiber | 53.5% | 66.4% |
| Cable | 94.3% | 70.2% |
| DSL (copper) | 79.2% | 46.7% |
| Licensed fixed wireless (incl. 5G home) | 94.6% | 81.6% |
| Unlicensed fixed wireless | 0.0% | 1.0% |
Alabama has overtaken Birmingham on fiber
In the first National Broadband Map release, as of June 30, 2022, fiber reached 40.0% of Birmingham's locations and 32.2%2 of Alabama's. Four years later the city had gained 13.6 percentage points and the state 34.2 percentage points. Birmingham now trails the state and the nation (62.6%), and Jefferson County as a whole, which includes the city, reports fiber at 67.9%1.
The same reversal shows among Alabama's five cities of 100,000 or more. In 2022 Birmingham was ahead of Montgomery (31.8%) and Tuscaloosa (37.4%2). By 2026 both had passed it, at 60.7% and 75.8%, while Mobile reached 79.3% and Huntsville 92.8%1.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. FCC file revision of November 10, 2026. Shares are of broadband serviceable locations (homes and businesses), not people.
Show the numbers
| Area | Fiber available |
|---|---|
| Huntsville | 92.8% |
| Mobile | 79.3% |
| Tuscaloosa | 75.8% |
| Alabama | 66.4% |
| United States | 62.6% |
| Montgomery | 60.7% |
| Birmingham | 53.5% |
The FCC figures record where service is reported, not why it was built in one place before another; they compare shares, because the FCC's list of locations changes with every release.
Spectrum alone on nearly half the city
Where AT&T has no fiber, Spectrum is usually the only wired provider offering 100/20 Mbps. That is the case at 39.8% of the city's locations. In all, 41.1% have a single wired choice at that speed, the 90th highest share among large cities, against 37.5% statewide and 36.6% nationally. Most of the rest, 54.6%, have exactly two, and three wired choices are almost unknown (0.0%1).
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Different wired providers (fiber, cable or DSL; FCC provider IDs) reporting 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up or more at the same location. Fixed wireless and satellite are not counted.
Show the numbers
| Area | None | One | Two | Three or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 4.2% | 41.1% | 54.6% | 0.0% |
| Alabama | 9.8% | 37.5% | 38.6% | 14.2% |
| United States | 7.8% | 36.6% | 44.6% | 11.1% |
The split also shows in advertised speeds. A 1 Gbps download is advertised at 95.7% of locations, mostly over Spectrum's cable, which advertises up to 1 Gbps. Gigabit service with uploads of 100 Mbps or more (1,000/100) is in practice fiber here and is advertised at 53.5%, the 35th lowest share among large cities. The fastest advertised tier is 2 Gbps or more at 51.0% of locations, where AT&T fiber advertises up to 5 Gbps1. These are maximums reported by providers, not measured speeds.
Fixed wireless grew the most since 2022
The largest change in the city's map since 2022 is wireless. Licensed fixed wireless offering 100/20 Mbps or more, mostly 5G home internet from Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, was reported at 9.3%2 of locations in June 2022 and at 54.5% in June 2026. Verizon now reports its service at 63,146 locations. Over the same period the share with two or more wired choices at 100/20 Mbps rose 11.2 percentage points, to 54.6%1.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2022; FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of December 31, 2025; FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Shares of broadband serviceable locations in each FCC release (latest revision of each); the small number is the change in percentage points since June 30, 2022. The FCC's count of locations is updated with each release, so shares are compared rather than counts.
Show the numbers
| Measure | June 30, 2022 | December 31, 2025 | June 30, 2026 | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiber available | 40.0% | 51.0% | 53.5% | 13.6 pts |
| Fixed wireless 100/20 | 9.3% | 52.2% | 54.5% | 45.2 pts |
| Two or more wired choices | 43.4% | 52.5% | 54.6% | 11.2 pts |
Fixed wireless capacity is shared on each tower sector, so the carriers accept sign-ups address by address. Very few locations depend on it or on satellite: 726 reach 100/20 Mbps only by fixed wireless, and 19 have satellite alone, a satellite-only share tied for the lowest1 among large cities.
Wired subscriptions rose between 2019 and 2025
The Census Bureau's American Community Survey measures something the FCC map does not: what households buy. In the 2019 survey, 52.4% of Birmingham households subscribed to cable, fiber or DSL (margin of error ±3.4 percentage points) and 23.1% had no internet subscription (±2.5 percentage points4). In the 2025 survey the wired share was 81.0% (±2.1 percentage points) and the share without a subscription 5.2% (±1.4 percentage points5). The margins do not overlap, so the rise is clear in the survey, even if its exact size is not.
Households relying only on a cellular data plan fell from 20.6%4 to 10.8%5. The five-year estimate for 2020–2024, which pools more responses, puts wired subscription at 71.7%6, between the two single-year figures.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables. Availability is a share of locations as of June 30, 2026 (FCC); subscriptions are a share of households from the American Community Survey, 2025 (whiskers: 90% margin of error). Different units and dates: read the gap as a sign, not an exact number.
Show the numbers
| Measure | Share | MOE |
|---|---|---|
| Wired 100/20 Mbps available (FCC, share of locations) | 95.8% | |
| Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census) | 81.0% | ±2.1 |
| Households relying only on a cellular data plan | 10.8% | ±1.8 |
| Households with no internet subscription | 5.2% | ±1.4 |
Wired service of 100/20 Mbps is reported at 95.8%1 of locations, so the gap between the two measures lies in subscription rather than in reported availability. Survey households and FCC locations are different units, so the comparison is a guide rather than an exact count.
Birmingham beside cities of its size
The table compares Birmingham with the cities closest to it in population, from the same FCC release.
| Area | Fiber available | Gigabit (1,000/100) | Two or more wired choices | Fiber networks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga, Tennessee | 100.0% | 100.0% | 98.4% | 4 |
| Providence, Rhode Island | 91.1% | 82.1% | 86.5% | 2 |
| Huntington Beach, California | 69.9% | 72.1% | 69.0% | 6 |
| Brownsville, Texas | 69.2% | 69.2% | 67.1% | 5 |
| Oxnard, California | 61.0% | 60.2% | 59.9% | 5 |
| Montgomery, Alabama | 60.7% | 60.7% | 92.2% | 5 |
| Birmingham, Alabama | 53.5% | 53.5% | 54.6% | 8 |
| Vancouver, Washington | 42.9% | 96.9% | 51.3% | 5 |
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. FCC file revision of November 10, 2026. Shares are of broadband serviceable locations (homes and businesses), not people.
The Alabama page maps every county, including Jefferson. Huntsville, with four overlapping wired networks, shows the opposite pattern within the same state.
Questions and answers
What internet providers are available in Birmingham, Alabama?
AT&T reports cable service at 95.4% of locations and Spectrum reports service at 94.4%, by fiber, DSL or fixed wireless. Verizon (83.1%) and T-Mobile (80.9%1) report fixed wireless home internet. Kinetic, C Spire and Brightspeed report fiber at small numbers of locations, and satellite is reported everywhere. Figures are as of June 30, 2026.
Is fiber internet available in Birmingham?
At 53.5% of locations inside city limits, as of June 30, 2026, almost all of it from AT&T (53.0%). Two or more fiber providers overlap at only 0.2%. Statewide, fiber reaches 66.4%1 of locations; the FCC map shows whether it is reported at one address.
How many internet providers are there in Birmingham?
8 wired providers report service somewhere in the city, 8 of them with fiber, up from 6 and 32 in June 2022. At most addresses the count is two or fewer: 41.1% of locations have exactly one wired provider at 100/20 Mbps and 54.6%1 have exactly two.
Is 5G home internet available in Birmingham?
Verizon reports fixed wireless home internet at 83.1% of locations and T-Mobile at 80.9%. Each offers 100/20 Mbps at fewer: 35.5% for Verizon and 32.0%1 for T-Mobile. Carriers confirm eligibility address by address.
Checking one address in Birmingham
The figures on this page describe the whole area. Which providers report service at a single home or apartment is shown only on the FCC's own map: search the address at broadbandmap.fcc.gov. If a provider is listed there but cannot actually connect you within ten business days, or the location is missing or misplaced, the map has a button to file a challenge; providers must respond, and corrections flow into later releases. Prices and plans are not part of the FCC data: each provider must show them on its broadband facts label at the point of sale.
More on internet in Alabama
The state picture, county by county: internet in Alabama. Other large cities in the state: Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa. Compare Birmingham with any other city or state in the comparison tool.
Sources
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Availability as of June 30, 2026; released November 10, 2026. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2022; Availability as of June 30, 2022; released May 10, 2024. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of December 31, 2025; Availability as of December 31, 2025; released November 3, 2026. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019 1-year detailed tables; 2019. api.census.gov
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables; 2025 (calendar-year sample); released October 29, 2026. api.census.gov
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year detailed tables; 2020-2024; released January 29, 2026. api.census.gov
Margins of error (±) are at the 90% confidence level. A difference is called significant only when it passes the Census Bureau's test at that level. How every figure is built: methodology. Found an error? Write to [email protected]; corrections are listed on the updates page.