Research

In a new analysis entitled A Quality Check on Form 477 Data: Errors, Subsidies, and Econometrics, Phoenix Center Chief Economist Dr. George Ford compares Federal Communications Commission Form 477 data to the State of Georgia's broadband availability survey data to make several interesting findings:

The purpose of the $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program is to help low-income Americans connect to the Internet during the Covid-19 pandemic. As of October 2021, EBB has more than 6 million recipients (about 700 thousand in California) and Congress is discussing several proposals to transition the EBB into a permanent broadband subsidy program. This policy brief examines broadband affordability in California and explores awareness and adoption of the EBB program among low-income California households.

Many internet service providers (ISPs) collect and share far more data about their customers than many consumers may expect—including access to all of their Internet traffic and real-time location data—while failing to offer consumers meaningful choices about how this data can be used. This report details the expanding scope and some troubling aspects of some ISP data collection practices.

In their 2021 State of the State addresses, at least 40 Governors highlighted the importance of broadband infrastructure and the interconnections with remote learning and telemedicine. These are critical to closing equity gaps and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic crisis. Expanding the physical infrastructure of the internet is only part of the challenge of extending access and connectivity to broadband services across the country.

With the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, internet infrastructure was brought to the forefront as a pressing need. The demands of large-scale work from home, school from home, accelerated e-commerce, telehealth, and even family gatherings pushed more of our lives online and exponentially increased demands on internet infrastructure to unprecedented levels and strained capacity in unanticipated ways. This demand also helped shift the real estate industry itself from thinking just in terms of physical space to also considering how to engage within a virtual environment.

This report explores broadband and computer connectivity in Philadelphia, with a special focus on connectivity since the COVID-19 pandemic. Notable findings include:

This article examines the roles and consequences of different approaches to 5G market design for innovation. The analysis is grounded in a conceptual framework that explicitly considers the complementarities among networks, applications, and services. Good policy arrangements align the legal and regulatory framework with the technical and economic characteristics of the sector and the broader, social visions for new technologies.

GAO conducted a technology assessment on (1) the availability of quantum computing and communications technologies and how they work, (2) potential future applications of such technologies and benefits and drawbacks from their development and use, and (3) factors that could affect technology development and policy options available to help address those factors, enhance benefits, or mitigate drawbacks. GAO identified four factors that affect quantum technology development and use: collaboration, workforce size and skill, investment, and the supply chain.

This study, commissioned by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and led by a researcher from Harvard Business School, assesses the impact of the internet on US gross domestic product (GDP). Key findings:

Due to rapid technological changes, governments in developing countries have paid special attention to sustainability. However, understanding insights into the sustainability of telecentres remains an open question (Editor's note: telecentres are public places where people can access computers, the Internet, and other digital technologies). This paper aims to fill this gap. We conducted a case study analyzing the sustainability of telecentres in Vietnam.