en.Wedoany.com Report on Mar 21st, According to the latest report released by Ookla, several major municipal broadband operators in the United States outperformed cable network operators in upload speed performance from December 2024 to December 2025, but generally lagged behind private fiber service providers in overall performance.
The report is based on Speedtest data analysis of 14 municipal broadband providers, eight of which exceeded their competitors in median upload speeds. Standout performers include Colorado's Connexion, which averaged upload speeds exceeding 300 Mbps over 13 months; Pulse Fiber in the same state, reaching similar levels over 10 months; and Oregon's Sherwood Broadband, which achieved this threshold in most months.
These municipal broadband operators compete with cable networks like Comcast's Xfinity, which typically offer upload speeds in the 20-45 Mbps range. Georgia's OptiLink, for example, reported median upload speeds around 231-252 Mbps, significantly higher than Spectrum's approximately 20 Mbps. Ookla selected these 14 providers due to their large user bases and sufficient Speedtest sample sizes. According to data from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, there are at least 400 municipal networks in the U.S. serving over 700 communities.
Sue Marek, Editorial Director at Ookla and author of the report, told Fierce: "Many municipal broadband providers are competing in the market against cable providers—while cable providers can typically match or exceed municipal broadband providers in download speeds, they cannot compete on upload speeds." Cable companies like Comcast and Charter are upgrading their networks with Distributed Access Architecture to improve upload speeds. For instance, Comcast increased upload speeds in Loveland, Colorado, from 44.98 Mbps to 79.83 Mbps.
However, municipal broadband network performance still lags behind major fiber service providers. Marek noted that in markets where other fiber providers exist, municipal networks often fall short in both download and upload speeds. For example, Louisiana's LFT Fiber recorded median download and upload speeds of 112.90 Mbps and 107.70 Mbps, respectively, while competitor AT&T Fiber reached 473.80 Mbps and 424.17 Mbps. Utah's Utopia Fiber faces competition from Gfiber, which outperforms it on speed metrics, though Utopia maintains multi-server latency at 6-8 ms, the lowest in the analysis.
