Internet in Newark, New Jersey

Optimum and Verizon wire the city

Two companies account for nearly all wired service in Newark. Optimum reports service at 91.5% of the city's 37,912 homes and businesses, filing both fiber and cable across almost the same footprint, with a fastest advertised download of 10 Gbps. Verizon reports service at 88.4% of locations and fiber at 77.3%, advertising up to 2.3 Gbps. Xfinity's cable network reaches 2,457 locations, 6.5%¹ of the city.

The rest of the list is small. Andrena reports 73 locations, Newark Fiber 15 (fiber and fixed wireless, up to 10 Gbps advertised) and Astound 17. Counted together, 7 wired providers and 6¹ fiber providers report service somewhere in Newark, up from 4³ fiber providers in June 2022.

These are provider reports to the FCC as of June 30, 2026, in the revision of November 10, 2026. "Reports service" means the provider says it can install service at the location within ten business days; anyone who finds a report wrong can challenge it on the FCC map. The city boundary is the one drawn for the 2020 Census.

Fiber at most addresses, often from two networks

Fiber reaches 93.7% of Newark's locations, the 35th highest share among large US cities, compared with 69.7% across New Jersey and 62.6% nationally. Where Verizon's fiber runs, Optimum's does too, so 73.5% of locations have two or more fiber networks, the 11th highest¹ share among those cities. In June 2022 that share was 31.9%³.

With fiber at most locations, symmetrical wired service of 100/100 Mbps or more is reported at 94.2% and gigabit service with uploads of at least 100 Mbps, the FCC's 1,000/100 tier (93.3%¹). These are advertised maximums, not measured speeds.

Where Optimum is the only fast wire

Wide fiber coverage does not mean a choice at every address. At 20.1% of locations, exactly one wired provider offers 100/20 Mbps, and that provider is usually Optimum: its sole-provider share is 16.4%. Another 70.7% have exactly two wired choices, and only 4.7%¹ have three or more, mostly where Xfinity's cable overlaps the other two networks.

NoneOneTwoThree or more

Newark

New Jersey

United States

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
Newark	4.5%	20.1%	70.7%	4.7%
New Jersey	1.3%	34.8%	60.5%	3.4%
United States	7.8%	36.6%	44.6%	11.1%

Choice has narrowed since the first map. The share of locations with two or more wired providers at 100/20 Mbps fell from 85.5%³ in June 2022 to 75.4%, a change of −10.1 percentage points, the 6th lowest change among large cities. The single-wire share rose by 6.5 percentage points over the same period. Verizon offers 100/20 Mbps at 85.5%¹ of locations, more than its fiber share; the difference is its fixed wireless service, which does not count as wired. The FCC data show these shifts without recording why providers changed their reports.

Copper off the map, speeds up

The June 2022 map still showed DSL over telephone copper at 18.4% of Newark's locations; by June 30, 2026 it was 0.2%, a share tied for 45th lowest among large cities. The fastest advertised tiers moved the other way. In 2022 the fastest advertised download at 99.1% of locations was between 940 Mbps and 2 Gbps, and 1,000/100 service was reported at 35.9%³. In both the December 2025 and June 2026 releases, 2 Gbps or more was the top advertised tier at 93.3%¹ of locations.

June 30, 2022December 31, 2025June 30, 2026

Two or more fiber networks73.5% +41.6 pts

Gigabit (1,000/100)93.3% +57.4 pts

Two or more wired choices75.4% −10.1 pts

DSL available0.2% −18.2 pts

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)
Two or more fiber networks	31.9%	73.4%	73.5%	41.6 pts
Gigabit (1,000/100)	35.9%	92.4%	93.3%	57.4 pts
Two or more wired choices	85.5%	75.4%	75.4%	−10.1 pts
DSL available	18.4%	0.2%	0.2%	−18.2 pts

T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon by fixed wireless

Licensed fixed wireless, the service sold as 5G or LTE home internet, is reported at 82.6% of locations, the 21st lowest share among large cities and down from 83.5%³ in 2022. T-Mobile reports it at 60.4% of locations and AT&T, which reported no service in Newark in 2022, at 44.4%. Both list 100 Mbps as their fastest advertised download here, and offer 100/20 Mbps at 6.0% and 12.7% of locations respectively. Verizon also reports fixed wireless in parts of the city; counting every provider, fixed wireless of 100/20 Mbps or more is reported at 27.8%¹ of locations.

HughesNet, Starlink and Viasat report satellite service at every location, but no location in Newark has satellite as its only option.

Newark among New Jersey's largest cities

New Jersey's four largest cities all have fiber at most locations, but they differ in how many fiber networks overlap and in how often one wire stands alone. In Jersey City the pair is Verizon's fiber and Xfinity's cable, with almost no second fiber network; Paterson has a larger single-wire share than Newark.

Fiber on the street, phone plans in the home

The gap between what is reported available and what households buy is wider in Newark than in most large cities. In the Census Bureau's 2025 survey, 69.1% of households subscribed to cable, fiber or DSL (margin of error ±3.0 percentage points), the 15th lowest share among large cities, against 79.9% statewide. 22.0% relied only on a cellular data plan (±3.3 percentage points), compared with 13.3% for New Jersey; in 2019 the Newark figure was 11.2%. Households with no internet subscription at all fell from 28.7%⁵ in 2019 to 7.1% (±2.0 percentage points²).

Wired 100/20 Mbps available (FCC, share of locations)95.5%

Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census)69.1% ±3.0

Households relying only on a cellular data plan22.0% ±3.3

Households with no internet subscription7.1% ±2.0

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)	95.5%
Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census)	69.1%	±3.0
Households relying only on a cellular data plan	22.0%	±3.3
Households with no internet subscription	7.1%	±2.0

The two sources count different things. The Census figures are households, estimated from a sample over a year; the FCC figures are locations on one date. Newark's 37,912¹ locations hold an estimated 113,868² households, because an apartment building counts as one location. A fiber report at a building says the provider can serve it, not that every apartment inside is wired.

For Essex County (88.2%¹ of locations with two or more wired choices at 100/20 Mbps) and the state's other counties, see the New Jersey page.