Tuesday, September 3, 2019
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The persistence of broadband user behavior
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The persistence of broadband user behavior: Implications for universal service and competition policy
In several markets, firms compete not for consumer expenditure but consumer attention. We examine user priorities over the allocation of their time, and interpret that behavior in light of policy discussions over universal service, data caps, and related policy topics, such as merger analysis. Specifically, we use extensive microdata on user online choice to characterize the demand for the services offered online, which drives a household's supply of attention. Our data cover a period of time that saw the introduction of many new and notable sites and new devices on which to access them. In our analysis, we assess “how” households supply their attention along various dimensions, such as their concentration of attention across the universe of sites and the amount of attention expenditure per domain visit. Remarkably, we find no change in “how” households allocated their attention despite drastically changing where they allocated it. Moreover, conditional on total attention expenditure, demographics entirely fail to predict our key measures of attention allocation decisions. We highlight several important implications, for policy and beyond, stemming from the persistence and demographic orthogonality of our novel attention measure.
On Aug 19 and 21, 2019, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai responded to various Members of Congress who expressed concerns about the FCC's inaccurate broadband mapping. Chairman Pai wrote that, "After a thorough review of the record and the painstaking work of our career staff, the Commission adopted a Report and Order at the FCC’s August Open Meeting that will result in more granular and more accurate broadband maps through the creation of the Digital Opportunity Data Collection. That means requiring broadband providers to report where they actually offer service below the census block level, having the Universal Service Administrative Company independently test the validity of that data, and incorporating public feedback to ensure up to date and accurate broadband deployment maps."
Other Members of Congress wrote to Chairman Pai about broadband mapping and 4G LTE in rural areas, urging the FCC to expand the Mobile Fund Phase II (MFII) project to include explicit funding for rural cellular deployment. Chairman Pai noted that the FCC structured MF-II to redirect funding from parts of the country that already had service to areas without any coverage at all. Regarding broadband mapping and MF-II, he wrote, "In 2018, I announced that the agency had launched an investigation into whether one or more major carriers violated the MF-II reverse auction’s mapping rules by submitting incorrect coverage maps—an investigation prompted in part by a preliminary review of the information submitted to the MF-II challenge process. The Commission suspended the program while conducting this investigation. I expect that Commission staff will soon conclude this investigation, after which the Commission will consider the next appropriate steps."
The Federal Communications Commission voted to nix network neutrality, effective June 2018. A year-plus later, broadband download and upload speeds have quickened rather than slowed. Internet providers haven’t bifurcated service into different speeds for rich and poor households. Mobile networks, too, move data more swiftly than before. Broadband investment in better technology again has accelerated. Who knows, maybe the internet providers are lying in wait to pounce on their customers. Where’s the internet Cybergeddon the naysayers predicted, and predicted, and predicted?
That silence you hear in response is the sound of free-market incentives improving internet services at a steady pace. Companies are competing to increase rather than decrease data speeds. And, thus far, internet providers haven’t adopted exploitative service and pricing policies that would drive angry customers to rival providers in a heartbeat. And if companies do take unfair advantage of life after net neutrality, the federal deregulation can be modified, or reversed by regulators, or overridden by Congress. America’s web users, then, are back to where they were before net neutrality, when the internet operated without much government interference — and without adverse effects. Government regulation does have its place. But on the internet as in so many other realms, consumers’ demands and decisions are the most powerful regulators. Americans are the living, breathing free market forces that drive companies to make their internet services better — and increasingly faster — than ... one ... word ... at ... a ... time.
Cell phone signal boosters are powerful devices. Installed in a home or office, they can potentially amplify one signal bar into five. In rural areas with poor cell coverage, or in buildings where signals have trouble penetrating, they can be lifesavers, providing reliable access to communication networks and emergency services. But boosters also have a dark side: if misconfigured or poorly manufactured, they can knock out service for everyone who happens to be nearby. That’s why the Federal Communications Commission began regulating the devices in 2014. Today, all consumer signal boosters sold and marketed in the US must meet the FCCC’s strict technical standards. Doing so can get expensive, and many FCC-authorized boosters cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Ecommerce sites like Amazon offer cheaper options. The only problem is, they’re not always compliant. Uncertified signal boosters are sold on other websites, but Amazon is by far the largest ecommerce platform where US consumers can purchase them.
Democratic officials moved to block plans to allow caucusgoers to vote by phone in Iowa and Nevada in 2020 because of concerns the technology could be hacked. An advisory from Tom Perez, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, and the co-chairs of the Rules and Bylaws Committee recommended against the virtual caucus or tele-caucus in the two early-voting states. Internal security and technology analysts, working with a panel of outside experts, found that there was no teleconference system that met security standards, apparently.
Stories from Abroad
Life in an Internet Shutdown: Crossing Borders for Email and Contraband SIM Cards
Internet shutdowns have become one of the defining tools of government repression in the 21st century in a growing number of countries, mainly in Asia and Africa, that are seeking to quash dissent. The shutdowns do more than stunt the democratic process. They can batter whole economies and individual businesses, as well as drastically disrupt the daily life of ordinary citizens, turning the search for mobile service into a game of cat and mouse with the police and driving people across borders just to send emails for work. In 2018, there were at least 196 shutdowns in 25 countries, up from 75 in 24 countries in 2016. In the first half of 2019 alone, there were 114 shutdowns in 23 countries. In all, more than a quarter of the world’s nations have used the tactic at one point or another over the past four years.
Typically used during times of civil unrest or political instability, a shutdown allows officials to stifle the flow of information about government wrongdoing or to stop communication among activists, usually by ordering service providers to cut or slow their customers’ internet access.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org) and Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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