Research

The level of journalistic resources dedicated to coverage of local politics is in a long-term decline in the US news media, with readership shifting to national outlets. We investigate whether this trend is demand- or supply-driven, exploiting a recent wave of local television station acquisitions by a conglomerate owner.

This report takes an in-depth look at global 4G network performance across 77 countries. 4G Download Speeds are between 31.2 Mbps and 5.8 Mbps faster at the best hour of day compared with the slowest hour of the day. The US falls in the middle of the pack on 4G downlaod speed experienced by consumers at the fastest ohour of the day, with the best 4G Download Speeds were 1.9 times faster in the late hours of night. The busiest hour of the day (slowest speeds) to be 9pm local time, with the least congested and fastest hour to be 3am.

High school students in rural parts of the US face significant challenges accessing technology that may adversely affect their learning — access that students in more populated parts of the country and policymakers may take for granted, according to surveys of students who took the national ACT test. A new report, “Rural Students: Technology, Coursework and Extracurricular Activities” found that rural students were less likely than non-rural students to claim that their home internet access was “great” (36 percent vs. 46 percent).

In January 2018, T-Mobile acquired Iowa Wireless Services (iWireless), a regional carrier that provided postpaid and prepaid wireless service to approximately 75,000 customers in Iowa, western Illinois, and eastern Nebraska. Prior to the acquisition, iWireless had one of the largest retail footprints of any wireless carrier in Iowa, with 129 corporate and authorized dealer locations. iWireless was notable for its rural presence and for its affordable and flexible prepaid plans.

This report puts forward solutions for the sharp decline in trust in democratic institutions, including the media. The recommendations apply broadly to journalism, technology, and citizenship, and provide a compass for rebuilding trust in the 21^st century. Among the key recommendations:

On June 18, 2018, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) and the Federal Communications Commission deployed the National Verifier (NV) system, kicking off the initial Soft Launch phase in six states. Since then, USAC has launched in ten additional states/territories across two separate launches. States and territories in the June 2018 and October 2018 launches are in the Full Launch phase, meaning carriers are required to use the NV system. In addition, consumers have access to use the system in these states.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) submitted the federal Universal Service Support Mechanisms fund size and administrative cost projections for the second quarter of calendar year 2019 (2Q2019), in accordance with Federal Communications Commission rules. USAC projects a consolidated operating and capital budget of $59.90 million for 2Q2019. Direct operating and capital costs for all support mechanisms total $34.66 million and are listed for each mechanism in the chart provided below.

This report offers an analysis of the past two and a half years of net neutrality enforcement in the European Union. We examine the current situation on the telecom market in Europe with a particular focus on differential pricing practices (e.g. zero-rating). This report aims at informing the debate on the ongoing reform of Europe’s net neutrality framework in light of the new moaile network standard 5G.

Since announcing his candidacy in the 2016 presidential elections to the end of his second year in office, President Donald Trump has sent 1,339 tweets about the media that were critical, insinuating, condemning, or threatening. In lieu of formal appearances as president, Trump has tweeted over 5,400 times to his more than 55.8 million followers; over 11 percent of these insulted or criticized journalists and outlets, or condemned and denigrated the news media as a whole.

The paper argues that the current first-to-market approach to connected technologies -- including Internet of Things devices -- has undermined public trust in these technologies and the internet, jeopardizing both our economy and democracy. To combat this, the paper proposes the creation of a “Security Shield” label to inform purchasers that a product has followed recognized best cybersecurity practices and should be more secure than similar products without such a label.