Los Angeles has 6 primary residential internet service providers within city limits. Spectrum and AT&T are the market incumbents, while smaller providers like Sonic.net and Starry Internet compete as local alternatives.
Provider brand name | Primary, secondary network type | Primary network coverage | Secondary network coverage | Maximum download | Maximum upload |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charter Communications (Spectrum) | Cable, Fiber | 98.98% | 7.92% | 940 Mbps | 35 Mbps |
AT&T California | DSL, Fiber | 80.10% | 21.32% | 1000 Mbps | 1000 Mbps |
Frontier Communications Corporation | DSL, Fiber | 19.96% | 9.55% | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps |
Sonic.net | DSL | 8.52% | 80 Mbps | 20 Mbps | |
Cox Communications | Cable | 1.17% | 1000 Mbps | 35 Mbps | |
Starry Internet | Fixed Wireless, Fiber | 26.65% | 0.0001% | 200 Mbps | 200 Mbps |
This table represents the majority of "incumbent" internet service providers currently registered within Los Angeles city limits, according to analysis of the FCC's most recent Form 477 data release on the industry.
Spectrum and AT&T are the primary players in the Los Angeles broadband market, with both networks reaching well over 90% of buildings in the LA area.
Frontier operates out of a DSL network within Los Angeles, as well as selling fiber over their "Fios" FTTH (Fiber to the Home) network, which they purchased from Verizon in 2016.
2016 was an eventful year for network ownership in Los Angeles, as Time Warner Cable also left the market, having sold their entire cable network to Charter Communications. All Time Warner Cable branding has been replaced with Charter Communications' residential internet service product, Spectrum, as of 2020.
Telecom pricing structures are actively designed to ensure that consumers pay more than they need to due to misunderstanding what they're buying. Our guides for the Los Angeles area help non-techies make informed decisions when seeking better internet service options.
Los Angeles is dynamic, diverse, and well-known for gaps between the "haves" and the "have-nots." Internet access in Los Angeles is no exception, with fiber predominently built out to wealthy neighborhoods like Silverlake, West Hollywood, and Laurel Canyon. Neighborhoods with lower median incomes like Koreatown and Boyle Heights are more commonly left with cable from Spectrum as the only residential internet option above 100 Mbps.
The city of Beverly Hills is finishing construction of a municipal broadband network that will offer low-cost fiber service to homeowners in the neighborhood later in 2020.
Major speed test sources like Measurement Labs and Speedtest.net record Los Angeles at an average internet speed range of 50–90 Mbps. Introductory plans are generally in the 100–200 Mbps download speed range.
Since most fiber service in Los Angeles is from telecom companies like AT&T and Frontier rather than overbuilders, the majority of buildings only have two wired internet options. However, some startup internet providers like Starry have begun to offer attractive wireless alternatives as of 2020.
Network technology | Population covered | Coverage percent |
---|---|---|
Cable | 3640707 | 99.97% |
DSL | 3609230 | 99.11% |
Fiber | 2422473 | 66.52% |
Fixed Wireless | 2973101 | 81.64% |
The table above shows percent coverage of each major network type in Los Angeles according to the latest FCC Form 477 data release (2020).
Note that due to over-reporting by providers, coverage at the building level is not as robust as this data presents. Fixed wireless service from providers like Starry Internet, in particular, has much lower coverage than it appears based on FCC data sources — which are currently the only public source of national broadband data.
The greater Los Angeles area has several business centers including business districts in Pasadena, Culver City, and Playa Vista. However, most large tech headquarters are in "Silicon Beach," an area on the West Side of LA in Santa Monica and Venice Beach that features major headquarters like Google and Snapchat.
Tech companies are drawn to Silicon Beach, in part, by the infrastructure and broadband access. Aside from being a major data center location and cable landing site, Silicon Beach also is one of 7 locations in California with municipal broadband services for enterprises, including dark fiber availability and low-cost high-quality fiber connectivity from Santa Monica CityNet.
The following providers have registered minor internet coverage areas within Los Angeles city limits, all below 1% local coverage.
CenturyLink enterprise, One Ring Networks, and several other major enterprise telecom providers are active in Silicon Beach and Los Angeles generally, making it the second-most popular location for startups and tech companies in California.
Provider brand name | Primary, secondary network type | Primary network coverage | Secondary network coverage | Maximum download | Maximum upload |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Comcast | Cable | 0.3119 | 987 | 35 | |
Consolidated Smart Broadband Systems, LLC | Cable, Fiber | 0.3982 | 0.2012 | 500 | 50 |
Mediacom California LLC | Cable | 0.0015 | 100 | 10 | |
ONE Burbank | Fiber | 0.0125 | 1000 | 1000 | |
Google Fiber California, LLC | Fiber | 0.0048 | 1000 | 1000 | |
Race Communications | Fiber | 0.1775 | 1000 | 1000 | |
Antelecom Inc. | Fixed Wireless | 0.2646 | 12 | 3 | |
Ind-Co Cable TV Inc. | Fixed Wireless | 0.0018 | 3 | 1 | |
LV.Net | Fixed Wireless | 0.0003 | 50 | 10 | |
Ranch Wifi, LLC | Fixed Wireless | 0.0026 | 10 | 5 | |
Sky Fiber Internet | Fixed Wireless | 0.0041 | 100 | 100 | |
GeoLinks | Fixed Wireless | 0.5918 | 1000 | 1000 | |
Webpass, Inc. | Fixed Wireless | 0.0222 | 500 | 500 | |
One Ring Networks | Fixed Wireless, Fiber | 0.3019 | 0.0126 | 200 | 200 |
When referencing ConnectCalifornia data and content on third-party sites, please provide linked attribution to the source page on www.connectcalifornia.com.
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