Research

The Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2019 (S. 893) would require the President, acting through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and other federal agencies, to develop and submit to the Congress a strategy to ensure the security of 5G and future generations wireless communications systems and infrastructure owned by the US and its allies. Among various other requirements, the NTIA would have to assess potential security threats to American 5G systems and infrastructure and analyze how competitive American 5G manufacturers and suppliers are globally.

In 2018, the GAO released a report related to spectrum use for broadband services by tribal entities and selected updates. Specifically, it discusses (1) tribal entities' ability to obtain and access spectrum to provide broadband services and the reported barriers that may exist, and (2) the extent to which FCC promotes and supports tribal efforts to obtain and access spectrum. For that report, GAO interviewed 16 tribal entities that were using wireless technologies. Selected entities varied geographically, among other characteristics.

In 2018, Common Sense conducted a national survey and focus groups to understand the challenges and promise of technology use in the classroom for learning. Teachers across the US were asked about the use of educational technology with students in their classrooms, and issues of access emerged:

A majority of US adults believe their local news media are doing well financially (71%), even as only 14% say they have paid for local news themselves in the past year, either through subscribing, donating or becoming a member. Some key findings about who pays for local news in the US:

Key findings about the way Americans get news online – as well as how digital newsrooms in the US are faring:

Millennials have often led older Americans in their adoption and use of technology, and this largely holds true today. But there has been significant growth in tech adoption since 2012 among older generations – particularly Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. Some findings:

Does municipal broadband stimulate broadband adoption or employment growth? I conduct an empirical study of American towns that have built municipal networks to answer this question. Using data from the FCC’s Form 477 and the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, I track broadband deployment, adoption, and employment statistics for these towns from 2013 to 2017. A town’s decision to install a municipal network in the first place is not random, however.

How many US adults use the internet? There is a lot of information available from large, high response rate federal surveys as well as from surveys conducted by Pew Research Center and other organizations. However, these different sources of information measure internet use in ways that can be tricky to reconcile.

On October 25, 2018, President Donald J.

In several markets, firms compete not for consumer expenditure but consumer attention. We examine user priorities over the allocation of their time, and interpret that behavior in light of policy discussions over universal service, data caps, and related policy topics, such as merger analysis. Specifically, we use extensive microdata on user online choice to characterize the demand for the services offered online, which drives a household's supply of attention.