Internet in Providence, Rhode Island
Fiber is available at 91.1% of the 35,788 homes and businesses the FCC counts in Providence, and wired broadband of at least 100/20 Mbps at 97.2%. 86.5% of locations have a choice of two or more wired providers at that speed; at 10.7% there is only one.1
FCC National Broadband Map, availability as of June 30, 2026 (data revised November 10, 2026), as reported by providers.
Providence in Rhode Island
Providence is a two-wire city. Verizon's Fios fiber reports service at 95.2% of its homes and businesses and Cox's cable network at 92.9%, and at 86.5%1 of locations both offer 100/20 Mbps. Subscriptions tell a different story: 21.4%2 of households rely only on a cellular data plan.
Internet providers in Providence: Cox and Verizon
As of June 30, 2026 (FCC revision of November 10, 2026), two companies run wired networks across Providence's 35,788 homes and businesses. Cox reports service at 92.9% of them, almost all of it over cable, with fiber at 0.5%. Verizon reports its Fios fiber at 90.9%1 and fixed wireless at some other locations. Networks filed for business customers only are not counted on this page.
| Verizon | Fiber Licensed wireless | 95.2% | 93.8% | 1 Gbps | 4.3% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cox | Fiber Cable | 92.9% | 92.9% | 2 Gbps | 6.4% |
| T-Mobile | Licensed wireless | 78.6% | 16.0% | 100 Mbps | – |
| AT&T | Licensed wireless | 39.5% | 4.7% | 100 Mbps | – |
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, Viasat, Starlink) report service at nearly every location and are left out of the table.
An FCC location is a building or a unit that can take service: a house, a small business, or a whole apartment building counted once. That is why the city has far fewer locations than households. "Available" means the provider told the FCC it serves the location or could connect it within ten business days of a standard request; listings can be challenged, and a single address can be checked on the FCC National Broadband Map. The city is counted within its 2020 Census limits. Providence is the only Rhode Island city among the 343 US cities of 100,000 or more.
Fiber reaches nearly every address
Fiber from at least one provider is reported at 91.1% of Providence's locations, a share that ranks tied for 59th highest among large US cities, against 86.2% for Rhode Island, the 2nd highest share among the states, and 62.6% for the country. Verizon's network accounts for most of it, and it was already in place in the first national map: fiber stood at 93.4%3 on June 30, 2022, and the share has changed by −2.2 percentage points since then. Between December 2025 and June 2026 it slipped by 0.9 percentage points, while the FCC's count of locations in the city grew by 6411.
Two separate fiber networks at one address are rare: 0.3% of locations, against 12.1%1 nationally. Cox, the second wire at most addresses, reaches them over cable.
Two wires, at slightly fewer addresses than in 2022
In the June 2022 data, 93.3% of locations had exactly two wired providers offering 100/20 Mbps, in practice Cox and Verizon. By June 2026 that share was 86.5%, and the share with a single wired provider at that speed had gone from 6.7%3 to 10.7%. Cox is the only one at 6.4% of locations and Verizon at 4.3%1. The filings record where each network is reported, not why a listing changed.
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 wired choices | 93.3% | 86.9% | 86.5% | −6.7 pts |
| One wired choice | 6.7% | 10.0% | 10.7% | 4.0 pts |
| DSL available | 32.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | −32.3 pts |
| Gigabit (1,000/100) | 0.0% | 80.5% | 82.1% | 82.1 pts |
Copper left the map in the same period. DSL was reported at 32.3% of locations in 2022 and at 0.0% in 2026, tied for the lowest share among large cities; statewide it fell from 22.0% to 0.0%. Wired 100/20 coverage barely moved through all of this: it was 100.0%3 in 2022 and is 97.2% now. Only 1,000 locations lack a wired provider at that speed, and 111 count as unserved under the federal BEAD definition.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | 2.8% | 10.7% | 86.5% | 0.0% |
| Rhode Island | 3.0% | 16.7% | 79.8% | 0.5% |
| United States | 7.8% | 36.6% | 44.6% | 11.1% |
Across Rhode Island, 80.4% of locations have two or more wired choices at 100/20 Mbps; in Providence the figure is 86.5%, and nationally 55.6%1.
Top advertised speeds moved past 1 Gbps
The fastest advertised download tier changed across the whole city. In 2022 the fastest advertised download at 100.0%3 of locations was between 940 Mbps and 2 Gbps, and no location had gigabit service with uploads of 100 Mbps or more, the FCC's 1,000/100 tier. In 2026, 92.9% of locations have an advertised download of 2 Gbps or more, and the 1,000/100 tier reaches 82.1%, a rise of 82.1 percentage points, an increase that ranks tied for 59th highest among large cities. Cox advertises downloads up to 2 Gbps and Verizon up to 1 Gbps. Symmetrical 100/100 Mbps service, in practice fiber, is advertised at 96.3%1.
These are maximum speeds providers advertise to the FCC, not measurements of what a home receives.
Fixed wireless from T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon
Three mobile carriers report home internet over their cellular networks. T-Mobile reports it at 78.6% of locations and AT&T, absent from the 2022 data, at 39.5%; both list a maximum of 100 Mbps and offer 100/20 Mbps at 16.0% and 4.7% of locations. Verizon reports fixed wireless at some locations alongside its fiber. Licensed fixed wireless at 100/20 Mbps reaches 23.5% of the city; among large cities that share ranks 14th lowest1. Carriers decide eligibility address by address, because each tower sector's capacity is shared.
Fast wires, phone-only households
The network figures and the subscription figures point in different directions. In the Census Bureau's 2025 American Community Survey (1-year estimates), 21.4% of Providence households relied only on a cellular data plan (margin of error ±3.9 percentage points), tied for 7th highest among large cities and above the Rhode Island figure of 14.5%. Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL were 68.7% (margin ±3.2 percentage points), tied for 11th lowest among large cities, against 76.9%2 statewide.
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) | 97.2% | |
| Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census) | 68.7% | ±3.2 |
| Households relying only on a cellular data plan | 21.4% | ±3.9 |
| Households with no internet subscription | 7.0% | ±2.3 |
The share with no internet subscription was 7.0% (margin ±2.3 percentage points2), down from 13.8% (margin ±2.4 percentage points5) in the 2019 survey; the two estimates do not overlap. The survey counts households over a year and the FCC counts locations on one date, so the comparison shows a direction, not an exact gap. The FCC data cannot say why households choose a phone plan where wired service is reported.
Providence beside other southern New England cities
Two overlapping fiber networks are common in Bridgeport and New Haven and nearly absent in Worcester, Springfield and Hartford. Providence, at 0.3%, sits between them, nearer Boston's 0.5%1. By point estimate, Providence also has the largest share of phone-only households in the table, with Hartford almost the same.
| Providence, Rhode Island | 91.1% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 82.1% | 21.4% ±3.9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston, Massachusetts | 87.3% | 0.5% | 50.4% | 82.8% | 14.6% ±1.6 |
| Worcester, Massachusetts | 35.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 15.3% ±3.2 |
| Springfield, Massachusetts | 41.1% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 97.2% | 20.1% ±4.0 |
| Hartford, Connecticut | 74.9% | 6.2% | 6.2% | 98.5% | 21.2% ±4.5 |
| New Haven, Connecticut | 87.2% | 46.2% | 46.2% | 96.9% | 12.0% ±3.1 |
| Bridgeport, Connecticut | 96.8% | 89.5% | 68.6% | 96.7% | 19.1% ±3.7 |
| Rhode Island | 86.2% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 55.5% | 14.5% ±1.1 |
| United States | 62.6% | 12.1% | 11.1% | 72.3% | – |
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables. FCC file revision of November 10, 2026. Shares are of broadband serviceable locations (homes and businesses), not people. ± is the 90% margin of error.
Every Rhode Island county and the state's BEAD plan are on the Rhode Island page.
Questions about internet service in Providence
What internet providers are available in Providence, RI?
Two companies report wired service: Cox at 92.9% of locations (mostly cable), Verizon at 95.2% (fiber at 90.9%). T-Mobile (78.6%) and AT&T (39.5%1) report fixed wireless home internet, and three satellite services report the whole city.
Is fiber internet available in Providence?
At 91.1% of locations as of June 30, 2026, a share that ranks tied for 59th highest among the 343 US cities of 100,000 or more. Rhode Island as a whole is at 86.2% and the US at 62.6%. Almost all of it is Verizon Fios; Cox reports fiber at 0.5%1 of locations.
How many internet providers are there in Providence?
2 wired providers, Cox and Verizon, report service for homes in the city, and 4 counting fixed wireless. At most addresses both offer 100/20 Mbps: 86.5% of locations have the two, 10.7% have one, and the average is 1.841.
Does Providence still have DSL?
No. DSL over copper telephone lines was reported at 32.3%3 of Providence's locations in June 2022 and at 0.0%1 in June 2026.
Checking one address in Providence
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 Rhode Island
The state picture, county by county: internet in Rhode Island. Large cities in neighboring states: New York, New York, Boston, Massachusetts, Buffalo, New York and Worcester, Massachusetts. Compare Providence 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
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables; 2025 (calendar-year sample); released October 29, 2026. api.census.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
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.