Coal County is genuinely hard to serve. 20.6% of locations here have no fixed broadband at all, so for a lot of addresses the real choice is satellite or a cellular home-internet gateway, not a wired provider.
Everything below comes from the FCC's Broadband Data Collection, the filings providers are legally required to make about where they offer service. It describes the county; your own address can differ, and that is exactly why the technology mix matters.
Where Coal County sits in Oklahoma
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 1.8%
1.8% to 3.4%
3.4% to 5.9%
5.9% to 8.5%
8.5% to 14%
14% to 21%
21% and above
not published
This county is outlined. Darker means a larger share of addresses with no fixed broadband. Select any county to open it.
What reaches homes in Coal County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 3,511 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber0 · 0.0%
Cable1,226 · 35%
Licensed fixed wireless2,002 · 57%
Unlicensed fixed wireless812 · 23%
DSL over copper0 · 0.0%
Served, underserved, unserved
The FCC's three categories. "Served" means at least 100/20 Mbps is available; "underserved" means at least 25/3 but below 100/20; "unserved" means below 25/3 or nothing at all.
Category
Locations
Share of county
Served
2,655
75.6%
Underserved
131
3.7%
Unserved
725
20.6%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Coal County as a completely rural county, or one with an urban population under 5,000, not adjacent to any metro area (continuum code 9).
Population is around 5,276, which works out to about 1.5 people for every address on the list.
725 locations, 20.6%, or better than one address in five, have no fixed service reaching 25/3 Mbps. That is a large gap even by rural standards.
A further 3.7% of the county sits in the middle: served, but below the 100/20 Mbps mark.
The most widely available technology here is licensed fixed wireless, reaching 2,002 locations (57.0%); next is cable at 34.9%.
Fiber is essentially absent: 0 locations out of 3,511.
2,002 locations are within reach of licensed fixed wireless, 57.0% of the total, and no other technology here reaches further.
Cable reaches 34.9% of locations, more than fiber does, and it will be concentrated in the built-up parts of the county.
13 providers file coverage here. None of them offer fiber; 4 offer licensed fixed wireless.
Served locations fell 0.49% year on year, usually a filing correction rather than a loss of service.
Coal County is harder-served than the typical Oklahoma county, where the median unserved share is 5.4%.
Fiber lags the rest of Oklahoma, where the median county is at 65.6%.
What people actually measure in Oklahoma
Median of real speed tests run on each network during 2024, from M-Lab. This is measured performance, not an advertised plan speed, and not a customer review. The middle-half column shows how consistent a network is: a wide spread means your experience depends heavily on where and when.
Network
Median download
Middle half of tests
Median upload
Latency
Tests
Cox Communications
117 Mbps
45.3 Mbps to 299 Mbps
13.7 Mbps
17 ms
81,784
AT&T Enterprises
84.8 Mbps
23.7 Mbps to 301 Mbps
30.8 Mbps
12 ms
57,215
Verizon Business
25.6 Mbps
6.5 Mbps to 75.1 Mbps
6.0 Mbps
34 ms
18,772
Optimum
127 Mbps
50.6 Mbps to 274 Mbps
17.2 Mbps
16 ms
8,529
Vyve Broadband
115 Mbps
53.8 Mbps to 200 Mbps
18.8 Mbps
18 ms
7,778
CABLE ONE
122 Mbps
56.2 Mbps to 249 Mbps
24.1 Mbps
16 ms
7,741
OEC Fiber
104 Mbps
69.8 Mbps to 314 Mbps
94.5 Mbps
18 ms
4,975
Windstream Communications
41.4 Mbps
11.9 Mbps to 136 Mbps
16.5 Mbps
20 ms
3,964
Pioneer Long Distance
94.4 Mbps
38.3 Mbps to 161 Mbps
84.3 Mbps
14 ms
3,920
Dobson Technologies - Transport and Telecom Solutions
93.0 Mbps
35.2 Mbps to 161 Mbps
86.1 Mbps
13 ms
3,020
Cellular networks, measured
The same measurement for the mobile networks behind 5G home internet. These tests come from phones as well as home gateways, so treat them as an indication of network health in the state rather than a home-internet plan speed.
Network
Median download
Middle half of tests
Median upload
Latency
Tests
T-Mobile USA
51.8 Mbps
13.7 Mbps to 122 Mbps
8.8 Mbps
35 ms
29,511
Latency is the number that decides whether video calls and gaming feel right, and it is where satellite differs most from everything else. Measured data is statewide: below county level there are usually too few tests to report an honest number.
Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up for a service or buy equipment through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which options we list or the order we rank them in, and we do not accept payment for a better placement.
Your realistic options in Coal County
Satellite
Starlink
Low-earth-orbit satellite. Latency is low enough for video calls and most gaming, unlike older satellite services.
Best for
Anywhere with a clear view of the sky and no wired option
Watch out
Hardware costs money up front, and heavy tree cover or a north-facing obstruction will cost you throughput