Research

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:

Considering the lack of digital infrastructure and digital literacy for large parts of the world’s population, it seems inevitable that the pandemic will reinforce the digital divide.

Reforming the nation’s century-old antitrust regulation is critical to ensuring a fair marketplace, and limiting the harm monopolistic practices can have on American consumers. However, the dire need for updated legislation does not mean Congress should pass legislation that is not carefully thought out for the long-term. This report examines the decades around the turn of the 20^th century, when the US adopted the two pillars on which a uniquely American and remarkably successful political economy was built – the Interstate Commerce Act of (ICA) 1887 and the Sherman Act of 1890.

Associate Professor Colin Rhinesmith’s research on broadband access, wireless hotspot lending, and digital equity has new relevance and importance in light of the pandemic. “The most relevant work I’ve done is around the cost of broadband internet access,” says Rhinesmith.

Key findings in the OpenVault Broadband Insight Report for the second quarter of 2020 (2Q20):

The Federal Communications Commission released an updated version of its FCC Speed Test app to evaluate how well customers' mobile broadband connections are performing. This app, available from the Apple App Store and Google Play, has been updated to work the with latest versions of the iOS and Android operating systems. Like its predecessor, the updated app allows users to test their cellular and Wi-Fi network performance for download and upload speed, latency, jitter, and packet loss.

“Middle-skill” jobs make up a large portion of the market, has positions to fill, but suffers from a dearth of trained workers—especially when it comes to digital skills. Digital skills refer to a person’s ability to use digital tools, applications, and networks to access and manage information. Pandemic-driven unemployment will only put the middle-skill issue into sharper relief.

Nearly 17 million new US jobs (16.7 million) were created during the nine-year period when 4G wireless networks were deployed and became a key driver of the US economy. At the beginning of the 4G era in 2011, 3.7 million jobs were connected to the wireless industry – a number that rose to 20.4 million by 2019. Overall, the US wireless industry gross domestic product (GDP) grew 253% to $690.5 billion between 2011 and 2019. Experts expect the industry’s GDP to increase by 126% between 2011 and 2019 to $441.8 billion. But instead, wireless GDP hit $690.5 billion in 2019.

We define Digital Equity Ecosystems as interactions between individuals, populations, communities, and their larger sociotechnical environments that all play a role in shaping the digital inclusion work in local communities to promote more equitable access to technology and social and racial justice. Our research in this area seeks to understand the impact of COVID-19 on individuals and families without household internet access and how digital inclusion coalitions across the nation have responded in turn.

We evaluate a program by a private Internet Service Provider intended to encourage low-income households to subscribe to broadband internet service.