Research

Good and Bad Reasons for Allocating Spectrum to Licensed, Unlicensed, Shared, and Satellite Uses

Policymakers inundated with self-serving arguments for specific spectrum allocation need ways to evaluate which actually advance the public interest. By focusing on the goal of productive spectrum use, one can differentiate between reasoning that would enhance productivity and that which would only advance private interests.

South Dakota's Plan to Leverage Digital Equity to Reach Economic Goals

The South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED), in partnership with the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation (DLR), seeks public comments on the state's draft Digital Opportunity PlanThis Digital Opportunity Plan (also referred to as the DO Plan) outlines a path for the state to achieve its full potential through the powerful force of an internet-enabled workforce, government, and society.

Measuring incumbent ISP response to municipal broadband opt-out referenda in Colorado

This paper examines how the quality of Internet service from existing providers is affected when voters in Colorado approve referenda eliminating a barrier to their local governments providing broadband service. Using a difference-in-differences framework, the research design exploits variation in the timing of a community’s approval of a referendum in order to examine whether incumbent private providers adjust their speed offerings in response to the signal that public entry is more likely.

How to Remedy Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Setbacks in Bridging the Digital Divide

How Congress, the federal Executive Branch, state and local governments, and carriers can forestall likely, measurable declines in broadband geographical penetration and subscription rates achieved during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, a look at the reforms needed to make ongoing universal service subsidy programs sustainable and more effective in achieving additional progress in bridging the Digital Divide as emergency grant programs wind down.

Aloha Spirit Inspires Hawai'i Digital Equity Plan

The ʻŌlelo Noʻeau (Native Hawaiian proverb) which introduces Hawai'i's draft Digital Equity Plan speaks to Hawai'i's dependence on the finite resources on an island, the state residents' dependence on one another, and their interconnectedness with everything around them.

How Americans View Data Privacy

In an era where every click, tap or keystroke leaves a digital trail, Americans remain uneasy and uncertain about their personal data and feel they have little control over how it’s used. This wariness is even ticking up in some areas like government data collection, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted May 15-21, 2023. According to the study, Americans – particularly Republicans – have grown more concerned about how the government uses their data. The public increasingly says they don’t understand what companies are doing with their data.

FTC Releases Protecting Older Consumers 2022-2023 Report

The Federal Trade Commission has issued its latest report to Congress on protecting older adults, which highlights key trends based on fraud reports by older adults, and the FTC’s multi-pronged efforts to combat the problem through law enforcement actions, rulemaking, and outreach and education programs. The report finds that older adults reported losing more than $1.6 billion to fraud in 2022. The report’s analysis shows that older adults filed the largest number of reports about online frauds—where consumers were first exposed to the fraud via social media, the web, or online ads.

Telehealth Usage among Low-income and Undocumented Californians

Statewide telehealth use jumped dramatically among low-income Californians covered by Medi-Cal in March 2020, when telehealth visits began to be reimbursed at the same rates as in-person visits. We find comparable trends in California’s community health centers (CHCs)—primary care clinics that serve all comers—for Medi-Cal and undocumented patients. However, telehealth can still pose challenges for those who are uncomfortable with technology or lack English proficiency.

The Plan for Closing Nevada’s Digital Divide

The Nevada Governor's Office of Science, Innovation and Technology (OSIT) is accepting public comment this month on its draft Digital Equity Plan, the state's first statewide-level attempt to eradicate the digital divide. For broadband internet subscriptions, Nevada is slightly above the national rate.

Ookla Releases Speedtest Global Index for Third Quarter 2023

Ookla's Speedtest released its Global Index for the third quarter of 2023. The United States ranked 15th in mobile global performance and 6th for fixed broadband. Fierce reported T-Mobile was in first place in the U.S. with a median 5G download speed of 221.57 Mbps. This slightly increased from the second quarter of 2023, when T-Mobile’s median 5G download speed was 220 Mbps.

Governor Kelly Invites Public Input on Volume 2 of Kansas Broadband Plan

Governor Laura Kelly (D-KS) announced the release of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Initial Proposal Volume 2. As part of the planning process, the public is invited to submit comments on the planning document.

Connected Communities: Providing Affordable Housing Residents with Unfettered Access to Digital Opportunity in Massachusetts

While limited digital skills and lack of access to computing devices are major contributors to the digital divide, experience in places like public housing in New York City demonstrates that these barriers can be overcome when affordable housing operators find ways to provide residents with reliable internet access. Pilot programs in Massachusetts give us a sense of the resources that will be required to furnish high-speed broadband in affordable housing developments.

USTelecom Releases 2023 Broadband Pricing Index

The 2023 Broadband Pricing Index (BPI), the fourth installment of USTelecom’s annual report, shows continued good news for broadband consumers, including an 18 percent drop year-over-year in the price of providers’ most popular broadband speed tier (Real BPI-Consumer Choice) and a 6.5 percent drop year-over-year in the price of providers’ fastest speed tier (Real BPI-Speed). Even without accounting for inflation, this pricing trend is in direct contrast to the rising cost of overall goods and services, up nearly 5 percent in a similar one-year period.

What would it cost to connect the unconnected? Estimating global universal broadband infrastructure investment

Roughly 3 billion citizens remain offline, equating to approximately 40 percent of the global population. Therefore, providing Internet connectivity is an essential part of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 9). In this paper, a high-resolution global model is developed to evaluate the necessary investment requirements to achieve affordable universal broadband. The results indicate that approximately $418 billion needs to be mobilized to connect all unconnected citizens globally (targeting 40–50 GB/Month per user with 95 percent reliability).

How is mobile broadband intensity affecting CO2 emissions?

This paper investigates the association between relative mobile broadband penetration (i.e. mobile broadband connections in total mobile connections) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions globally. The study is based on 181 countries for the period 2002–2020. The results indicate an initial increase in CO2 emissions for a country at an average emission level once mobile broadband is introduced. Possible explanations might be initial investment in network infrastructure and increased consumption of electricity.

Do subscribers of mobile networks care about Data Throttling?

Network neutrality mandates have been made out either as necessary to ensure a level playing field in online markets or, alternatively, as overly restrictive regulation preventing innovation and investment. However, there is little empirical research on the consequences of data throttling, which becomes legal without network neutrality regulations. We combine throughput levels measured for mobile internet service providers in the United States with usage data to explore how sensitive users are to such practices.

Cook County Digital Equity Action Plan

As government services, social and civic connections, financial services, educational resources, and workforce opportunities increasingly move online, suburban Cook County communities face a range of challenges. Those challenges include finding quality, affordable broadband internet service; obtaining usable, supported devices; and building the skills and confidence needed to navigate the internet safely and meaningfully. This action plan is organized around four digital equity cornerstones:

The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are amplifying a crisis for human rights online. While AI technology offers exciting and beneficial uses for science, education, and society at large, its uptake has also increased the scale, speed, and efficiency of digital repression. Automated systems have enabled governments to conduct more precise and subtle forms of online censorship. Purveyors of disinformation are employing AI-generated images, audio, and text, making the truth easier to distort and harder to discern.

Public Comment Period Open Now for Idaho's Broadband Initial Proposal

The Idaho Broadband Advisory Board and Idaho Office of Broadband have opened a public comment period on the state’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Initial Proposal (Volumes I and II) for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The state has been working to identify Idaho’s internet needs, challenges and opportunities to develop internet expansion plans. The work is reflected in the state’s draft BEAD Initial Proposal.

Michiganders Asked for Feedback on Using $1.6B in Federal Funding to Expand High-Speed Internet Access Across the State

The Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI) is now accepting public comment on Volume 1 of Michigan’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Initial Proposal.

The Best Broadband Internet Service Providers for 2023

Rather than focusing exclusively on speed, we've expanded our ranking methodology and data sources to include a broader range of qualitative measurements, including the internet service providers' (ISPs) coverage area, prices, and customer satisfaction ratings. By combining all these data points, we're able to objectively pinpoint the Best ISPs in the US—not just the fastest ones. And we've broken down the winners into three separate categories: the Best Major ISPs, the Best All-Around ISPs, and the Best ISPs by Region of the US.

¡Su opinión cuenta! Puerto Rico Releases Initial Draft of Digital Equity Plan

Puerto Rico’s mountainous geography and experience with natural disasters play a role in the digital divide that leaves too many without the ability to access broadband internet. Widespread damage to the island’s existing telecommunications infrastructure as a result of recent natural disasters—such as Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Hurricane Fiona, the 2020 earthquakes, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic—highlighted the importance of reliable and affordable broadband access, particularly for remote work, online learning, telehealth services, and connecting with the government.

A Closer Look at Indiana’s Digital Equity: Mobile-Only

In Indiana, 9.1 percent of survey respondents only had smartphone devices, compared to 86.4 percent with smartphones and at least one other device. Less than 5 percent of respondents either did not have devices or had devices other than smartphones.

Digital Equity and Schools: A 2022/2023 Study

Using a multi-modal approach, Discovery Education—along with Comcast—sought to deepen understanding of remaining barriers to home internet adoption among students and their families by exploring the role schools (educators and administrators) are playing, with a particular focus on family involvement in bridging students’ abilities to connect to high-speed internet to support learning. The study found that: