August 2020

The largest cable and telephone providers in the US – representing about 96% of the market – acquired about 1,245,000 net additional broadband Internet subscribers in the second quarter of 2020, compared to a pro forma gain of about 375,000 subscribers in 2Q 2019. These top broadband providers now account for about 103.3 million subscribers, with top cable companies having 70.6 million broadband subscribers, and top wireline phone companies having 32.7 million subscribers. The top cable companies added about 1,400,000 subscribers in 2Q 2020. The top wireline phone companies had a net loss o

The Federal Communications Commission has denied petitions by public safety and utility organizations to stay its decision to open up the entire 6 GHz band for unlicensed Wi-Fi use pending judicial review.

In this research brief, we use labor force participation and unemployment rates from 2014 to 2018 as indicators for labor market attachment, and we find disparities along these indicators based on patterns of broadband access and computer use. By analyzing patterns of broadband access, computer use, and disparities in labor market outcomes, we find that: