This paper uses data on broadband connections and the production and sales of agricultural products to empirically estimate the impact of improved connectivity on US farming outcomes. The Federal Communications Commission has detailed data on broadband subscriptions from its semi-annual Form 477 collection. The US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) releases a complete census of agriculture every five years to measure agricultural activity. By pairing periodic releases of the Form 477 data collection with information on farm production expenses and crop yields from corresponding releases of the Census of Agriculture, the analysis directly evaluates the benefit of rural broadband development on the US farming industry. Overall, there is evidence of crop yield improvements from increased Internet penetration rates at thresholds of 25 Megabits-per-second download and 3 Megabits-per-second upload speeds. Among the findings, a 1% increase in the number of 25+/3+ connections per 1,000 households is associated with a 3.6% increase in corn yields, as measured in bushels per acre. There is also some evidence of cost savings at thresholds of 10 Megabits-per-second download and 0.768 Megabitsper-second upload speeds. A 1% increase in the number of 10+/0.768+ connections per 1,000 households is associated with a 2.4% decrease in operating expenses per farm operation. The paper also provides an introductory look at changes in the composition and speed thresholds of connectivity available for selected field crops over time.

How much do consumers pay for internet service in the United States? The question might seem relatively simple, but the answer has stymied the federal government for years—because no agency collects this data. Throughout 2020, my organization, New America’s Open Technology Institute, published the Cost of Connectivity series to crack open the black box of internet pricing. The collective takeaway of these studies is clear: the cost of internet service is alarmingly high, and there is substantial evidence of an affordability crisis in the United States. There are many steps that Congress and the Federal Communications Commission should take, including, but not limited to:

• Expand Lifeline. 

• Legalize municipal broadband. 

• Ban landlord exclusivity deals. 

• Step up antitrust enforcement. 

• Make internet pricing transparent. 

The state of Connecticut is giving every student in grades K-12 a laptop and paying for their internet access. Recently, the state announced that it had achieved near-universal access for both device distribution and connectivity—a significant achievement in a state where 40 percent of households in some cities lack home access, according to census data. The program, known as the Everybody Learns Initiative, was funded primarily by about $43 million in CARES Act stimulus funding, diverted both to school districts to pay for devices and to local internet service providers. In March, a local nonprofit, Partnership for Connecticut, spent $24 million to buy laptops. In some areas, local philanthropy groups stepped up to pay for internet connectivity as well. In all, the state has distributed about 140,000 devices—many of them Chromebooks—and 44,000 home internet connections, negotiating discounts with five ISPs, with most connections costing the state between $10 to $20 a month. But even that wasn’t enough to completely close the divide, says Doug Casey, the executive director at the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology, who heads the home broadband part of the program. The state also helped districts purchase nearly 13,000 internet hotspots from the company Kajeet, which plug into laptops and provide on-the-go internet access, specifically for students who may be between housing, live at multiple addresses in a given week or have long commutes between school and home.