Research

Although digitisation offers numerous opportunities for rural areas, they still lag behind cities in terms of access and adoption of Internet-based services. This divide is the result of multiple market failures in both the demand and supply of broadband access, which have been addressed through public, private and community-led initiatives. Based on interviews and ethnographic analysis, this paper explores how community networks and public-private partnerships have contributed to promoting the delivery and adoption of superfast broadband across the rural UK.

The demand for faster broadband access is a key driver of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) adoption and fixed broadband competition, and therefore of co-investment. This paper assesses the effects on FTTH adoption and competition of FTTH co-investment. Co-investment had indeed been endorsed in the European Electronic Communication Code as a relevant option for conciliating investment and competition.

The Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending (SMRA) Auction has become a defacto standard auction mechanism for the award of radio spectrum for commercial mobile services around the world. The winning bid price in such SMRA spectrum auctions is of interest, as it determines the valuation of the scarce resource by the mobile operators, and also indicates the revenue accrued to the governments as auction proceeds. This report uses a cross-country panel dataset to examine the determinants of spectrum prices of all the SMRA auctions held in 25 countries from 1994 to 2019.

Major broadband providers, both telecom and cable, have chosen not to build their networks to areas they deem less profitable and not to upgrade many existing customers left behind by outdated technology. These choices entrench the far too wide digital divide and mean Americans pay some of the highest prices for service. At the same time, the largest ISPs have used their outsized influence in Congress to block any legislation that would undermine their stranglehold over the broadband marketplace.

The Internet has proliferated unevenly across the world, resulting in a global digital divide. In the past decade, concerns related to technology ‘haves’ and ‘haves not’ have grown in prominence in the countries of South Asia (including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal) that are witnessing an increased digital divide. This study specifically looks at the case of Pakistan, and how the country's digital inequalities are increasing in terms of the public's access and their use of the Internet and information and communication technology (ICT) devices.

This report details strategies for successfully expanding high-speed internet access to every residence, business, and institution in Wisconsin by 2025, including solutions to make broadband affordable for all communities. Among others, the Task Force report included recommendations to:

The National Association of Counties' Broadband Task Force was chartered with the premise that "if you can't connect… you can't compete." It is the equity issue of our hour. After months of study and dialogue, our Task Force concluded that a comprehensive, coordinated approach is needed to pursue new broadband infrastructure investment, public policies, and user skills.

A first-of-its-kind report documenting the wide array of current and projected spectrum uses by space-based systems. The report addresses a wide range of government and commercial space-based operations and the value they provide to the economy and our quality of life, both in the United States and globally.

More than almost any other group, Black communities in the Black Rural South lack affordable, high-speed, quality broadband—38 percent of African Americans there report they do not have access to home internet. Expanding broadband could help reduce the deep racial and economic inequalities in education, jobs and healthcare in the region. Too often, efforts to close the digital divide conflate “rural” with “White” and “urban” with “Black.” The Joint Center's report authored by Dr.

This report examines (1) small business access to broadband and how federal broadband funding programs may serve small businesses, and (2) the extent to which the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband speed benchmark meets the needs of small businesses. Much of the literature GAO reviewed suggests that FCC’s current broadband minimum benchmark speeds—25 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloading and 3 Mbps for uploading—are likely too slow to meet many small business speed needs. GAO is making one recommendation to FCC to solicit stakeholder input and analyze small business broadban