Research

As schools across the country transition to distance learning due to the COVID-19 crisis, a new Connected Communities and Inclusive Growth (CCIG) report documents the extent of the distance learning gap in Los Angeles County. The distance learning gap refers to the gap between students living in households with high-speed Internet and a desktop or laptop computer, and those without these essential resources for effective distance learning. Among the key findings are:

For agriculture, slow, unreliable internet is the norm. Like any business managers in the US, farmers rely on internet connections in their offices. However, with today’s technology, they also need connectivity in their fields. American farmers get online for everything from market and weather information to banking and need connectivity to process soil fertility data, use autosteer and much more. The study found that nearly 60% of U.S.

The National Broadband Network (NBN) is the largest public infrastructure project in the history of Australia. The goal of the NBN is to provide Australians with broadband internet access by using a mix of technologies, ranging from fibre and hybrid fibre-coaxial to fixed wireless and satellite platforms. Although the NBN is a public project, one of the more vexing aspects of its evolution is its lack of data transparency. There is virtually no information on platform use or footprint distribution throughout the country.

Broadband is seen as a vector of economic growth and social development. In the developing world, mobile technologies are widely adopted and mobile broadband is progressively rolled-out with high expectations on its impact on the countries’ development. We highlight what the determinants of mobile broadband use are in four Sub-Saharan countries. Using micro-level data coming from household surveys over 5 years, from 2013 to 2017, we show that SIM card ownership and being part of an online social community has a strong positive impact on mobile broadband use.

This paper measures the role of the diffusion of high-speed Internet on an individual's ability to self-isolate during a global pandemic. We use data that tracks 20 million mobile devices and their movements across physical locations, and whether the mobile devices leave their homes that day. We show that while income is correlated with differences in the ability to stay at home, the unequal diffusion of high-speed Internet in homes across regions drives much of this observed income effect. We examine compliance with state-level directives to avoid leaving your home.

This study examines possible lessons learned from the deployment of residential Gigabit networks based upon the novel approach taken by the Google Fiber project started in 2010. Even though Google Fiber paused any project expansion in 2016, calling into question the viability of their business model, the approach taken by Google Fiber elicits further research interest given four major innovations that this analysis identifies in its fiber-to-the-home business model.

4-H and Microsoft released a report that captures how much broadband can mean to youth and their communities. The report is based on a survey of more than 1,500 teens, ages 13 to 19, that was conducted in November 2019.

To further assist in closing the digital divide, states have been developing their own broadband programs and initiatives. Although many state broadband initiatives focus on building out broadband infrastructure, states have also been considering other factors. As each state approaches broadband access and deployment differently, this report analyzes selected state-level and local initiatives that have tried different approaches—approaches that may serve as models for future federal broadband initiatives.

People in the United States and around the world are turning to the internet to do their work and stay connected with others as the COVID-19 outbreak forces people to stay home and away from the office and crowds. A median of 77% across 34 countries use the internet at least occasionally or own an internet-enabled smartphone, according to a spring 2019 Pew Research Center survey. But there are stark digital divides. Younger people, those with higher incomes and those in wealthier countries are more likely to be digital technology users.

As the spread of COVID-19 upends work, classes and even doctor appointments across the country, a majority of Americans are turning to digital means to stay connected and track information about the outbreak. Amid this increased reliance, about nine-in-ten US adults (93%) say that a major interruption to their internet or cellphone service during the outbreak would be a problem in their daily life, including 49% who foresee an outage being a very big problem for them and 28% who believe it would be a moderately big problem.