Internet in Charlotte, North Carolina
Fiber is available at 83.6% of the 252,673 homes and businesses the FCC counts in Charlotte, and wired broadband of at least 100/20 Mbps at 98.0%. 82.7% of locations have a choice of two or more wired providers at that speed; at 15.2% there is only one.1
FCC National Broadband Map, availability as of June 30, 2026 (data revised November 10, 2026), as reported by providers.
Charlotte in North Carolina
Charlotte is an AT&T fiber city with Spectrum cable underneath: fiber reaches 83.6% of its homes and businesses, well above the North Carolina share of 65.3%. Google Fiber, which covers most of Raleigh and Durham, reports service at 20.2%1 of Charlotte, so a second fiber network is the exception here rather than the rule.
Providers reporting service, June 30, 2026
The FCC counts 252,6731 homes and businesses within Charlotte's 2020 Census boundary. The table lists every provider that reports service to them as of June 30, 2026 (file revision of November 10, 2026). Being listed means a provider serves the location now or says it could connect it within ten business days. Residents who find a listing wrong can file a challenge through the FCC's broadband map.
| Spectrum | Fiber Cable | 97.0% | 97.0% | 1 Gbps | 14.3% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verizon | Licensed wireless | 93.0% | 41.2% | 1 Gbps | – |
| AT&T | Fiber DSL Licensed wireless | 92.9% | 78.3% | 5 Gbps | 0.8% |
| T-Mobile | Licensed wireless | 89.9% | 42.3% | 100 Mbps | – |
| Google Fiber | Fiber Fixed wireless | 20.2% | 20.2% | 8 Gbps | 0.0% |
| Kinetic | Fiber DSL | 3.5% | 1.1% | 2 Gbps | 0.1% |
| Comporium | Fiber Cable | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8 Gbps | 0.0% |
| Hotwire Communications | Fiber | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8 Gbps | – |
| Ripple Fiber | Fiber | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8 Gbps | – |
| Pineville Communication Systems | Fiber | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 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 (HughesNet, Starlink, Viasat) report service at nearly every location and are left out of the table.
Two networks reach nearly every address. Spectrum is listed at 97.0% of locations, with cable nearly everywhere and fiber at 3.3%. AT&T is listed at 92.9% using three technologies. Its fiber covers 76.6%; elsewhere the company relies on DSL or fixed wireless, which is why its 100/20 Mbps share drops to 78.3%. Google Fiber is the third wired network, with 20.2%, and Kinetic holds 3.5%1, mostly with DSL.
The long provider list overstates the choice. Charlotte's count of fiber companies, 8, is tied for 20th highest among the 343 largest US cities. Beyond the four networks above, each lists a few dozen locations or fewer: Comporium lists 69 locations and Hotwire Communications 561.
Charlotte and the Triangle: one fiber network or two
On fiber reach alone, Charlotte sits well ahead of its state: 83.6% of locations against 65.3% for North Carolina and 62.6% nationally. What sets the state's big cities apart is overlap. In Raleigh and Durham, Google Fiber reports fiber at 77.2% and 66.4% of locations, and a second fiber company is on file at 67.5% and 67.2% of locations. In Charlotte, where Google Fiber's share is 20.1%, that figure is 16.8%, close to the statewide 17.4%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 | Two or more fiber networks |
|---|---|
| Raleigh | 67.5% |
| Durham | 67.2% |
| Greensboro | 28.0% |
| North Carolina | 17.4% |
| Charlotte | 16.8% |
| United States | 12.1% |
| Winston-Salem | 5.6% |
Fiber-on-fiber competition is growing, from a low base. The share stood at 9.1%2 when the FCC published its first map, with data as of June 30, 2022, an increase of 7.7 percentage points in four years. Greensboro (28.0%) is above Charlotte on this measure, Winston-Salem (5.6%1) below.
Gigabit downloads nearly everywhere, uploads by wire
Download speed barely varies across Charlotte. Providers advertise 1 Gbps downloads to 97.9% of locations. For 71.7% of them the top tier on offer reaches 2 Gbps or beyond, against 51.4%2 in June 2022 and 52.5% across North Carolina; nearly every other location tops out between 940 Mbps and 2 Gbps (26.2%). The highest advertised tiers are 8 Gbps for Google Fiber, 5 Gbps for AT&T and 1 Gbps1 for Spectrum.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Maximum advertised download speed (Mbps) of any wired or fixed wireless offer at the location, as reported by providers to the FCC; satellite excluded. Advertised, not measured.
Show the numbers
| Area | Under 25 Mbps or none | 25–99 | 100–249 | 250–499 | 500–939 | 940–1,999 | 2,000 or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 26.2% | 71.7% |
| North Carolina | 2.7% | 1.9% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 41.5% | 52.5% |
| United States | 2.4% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 31.0% | 61.0% |
Upload speed is what separates the networks. The FCC's 1,000/100 tier, a gigabit download paired with a 100 Mbps upload or faster, is advertised to 83.7% of locations, and symmetrical 100/100 Mbps service to 83.6%. Both follow fiber's footprint rather than cable's, since cable's uploads run far below its downloads. Between December 2025 and June 2026 the 1,000/100 share slipped from 84.1%3 to 83.7%, a change that ranks tied for 66th lowest among large cities, even as fiber edged up 0.3 percentage points1. All of these are maximums providers advertise, not speeds anyone measured.
Verizon and T-Mobile as the third option
Licensed fixed wireless, the category that holds 5G home internet, shows up at 98.3% of Charlotte's locations but comes from just 3 providers, a count tied for 2nd lowest among large cities. Verizon covers 93.0%; it offers 100/20 Mbps to 41.2% and lists tiers as fast as 1 Gbps. Its Charlotte footprint has roughly doubled since the 2022 map. T-Mobile covers 89.9%, offering 100/20 to 42.3%, with a listed top tier of 100 Mbps1. AT&T's own fixed wireless fills part of the city at lower speeds.
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 | Charlotte | North Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| Fiber | 83.6% | 65.3% |
| Cable | 94.5% | 79.5% |
| DSL (copper) | 49.9% | 42.3% |
| Licensed fixed wireless (incl. 5G home) | 98.3% | 85.6% |
| Unlicensed fixed wireless | 0.0% | 0.8% |
Since 2022 the wireless change has been in speed rather than reach. Licensed fixed wireless meeting 100/20 Mbps covered 24.5% of locations then and 60.3% now. With wireless counted next to the wires, locations with at least three land-based choices at 100/20 Mbps went from 24.5%2 to 59.7%1. Carriers share each tower sector among its users and decide sign-ups one address at a time, so a location shown as covered can still be refused.
Where Spectrum is the only wire
For 15.2% of Charlotte's locations a single wired company offers 100/20 Mbps, and at 14.3% that company is Spectrum: no other wired provider, fiber or otherwise, lists 100/20 Mbps there. Four years earlier the single-wire share was 22.8%2. Most locations have exactly two wired providers (67.7%); 15.1%1 have three or more.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 2.1% | 15.2% | 67.7% | 15.1% |
| North Carolina | 5.8% | 39.5% | 40.3% | 14.5% |
| United States | 7.8% | 36.6% | 44.6% | 11.1% |
Statewide, 54.7% of North Carolina's locations have a choice of two or more wired providers at 100/20 Mbps, compared with 82.7% in Charlotte. The gaps inside the city are small in number. 5,190 locations have no wired 100/20 service; 11 are unserved under the federal BEAD test, with no wired or licensed fixed wireless service of 25/3 Mbps; 31 can be reached only by satellite.
Copper down, fiber up since 2022
Fiber's share of Charlotte rose from 73.0% in June 2022 to 83.6% in June 2026, with the December 2025 release already at 83.3%3. DSL, the copper service of AT&T and Kinetic, fell from 57.3% to 49.9%, and cable moved from 95.6%2 to 94.5%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 | 73.0% | 83.3% | 83.6% | 10.6 pts |
| DSL available | 57.3% | 51.8% | 49.9% | −7.4 pts |
| Two or more fiber networks | 9.1% | 16.7% | 16.8% | 7.7 pts |
| Fixed wireless 100/20 | 24.5% | 60.6% | 60.3% | 35.8 pts |
The comparison uses shares because the FCC's location list is revised each release; in Charlotte it has grown by +15,1091 since June 2022.
What Charlotte households subscribe to
Availability and subscription are measured by different agencies. The Census Bureau's 2025 American Community Survey found 95.7% of Charlotte households with some broadband subscription (margin of error ±0.7 percentage points). Cable, fiber or DSL accounted for 80.6% (±1.2 percentage points), and 12.5% used a cellular data plan alone (±1.3 percentage points4).
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) | 98.0% | |
| Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census) | 80.6% | ±1.2 |
| Households relying only on a cellular data plan | 12.5% | ±1.3 |
| Households with no internet subscription | 4.3% | ±0.7 |
Households without any subscription made up 4.3% (±0.7 percentage points4), compared with 9.4% (±0.9 percentage points5) in 2019; the two margins of error do not overlap. The survey counts households across a year and the FCC counts locations on a single date, so the two sources cannot be matched one to one.
For county figures and the state's BEAD plan, see the North Carolina page. The Raleigh and Durham pages show the Triangle's figures city by city.
Charlotte internet questions
What internet providers are available in Charlotte, NC?
As of June 30, 2026, Spectrum reports service at 97.0% of Charlotte's locations, mostly over cable, and AT&T at 92.9%, with fiber at 76.6%. Google Fiber reports 20.2% and Kinetic 3.5%. Verizon (93.0%) and T-Mobile (89.9%1) report fixed wireless home internet. Satellite is reported everywhere.
Is fiber internet available in Charlotte?
At 83.6% of locations inside city limits, against 65.3% for North Carolina and 62.6% for the US. Most of it is AT&T's network. Two or more fiber providers reach 16.8%1 of locations.
How many internet providers does Charlotte have?
8 companies report wired service somewhere in the city and 8 report fiber, but most of them serve a few dozen locations. A typical address has 1.961 wired providers offering 100/20 Mbps, on average.
Is Google Fiber available in Charlotte?
In part of the city. Google Fiber reports fiber at 20.1% of Charlotte's locations as of June 30, 2026, compared with 77.2% in Raleigh and 66.4%1 in Durham.
Checking one address in Charlotte
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 North Carolina
The state picture, county by county: internet in North Carolina. Other large cities in the state: Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville, Cary, Wilmington, High Point and Concord. Compare Charlotte 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 2025 1-year detailed tables; 2025 (calendar-year sample); released October 29, 2026. api.census.gov
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019 1-year detailed tables; 2019. 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.