ITIF’s Analysis of Broadband and Affordability Misses the Mark

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the digital divide on policymakers’ agenda like never before. It is challenging them to find solutions that meet the urgency of the crisis while building a foundation for sustainable progress over time. This means that policymakers will want to build on lessons learned and explore new approaches. In contemplating these and other ideas, policymakers may want to look at analysis of broadband adoption barriers – the more reliable the better. Unfortunately, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) recently published a study entitled “Broadband Myths: Are High Broadband Prices Holding Back Adoption?” that falls short of the mark. ITIF’s argument on the role of the affordability of service in broadband adoption boils down to the following: 1) Policymakers risk “tunnel vision” if they pay too much attention to affordability of broadband service, and; 2) Broadband prices in the United States are competitive with other nations’, implying that concerns about costs in the US being too high are overblown. ITIF notes, correctly, that there are multiple reasons why many US households do not subscribe to broadband. But affordability of service plays an outsized role. By suggesting it does not, the ITIF research risks constraining policymakers and other stakeholders as they seek to bridge digital adoption gaps. Moreover, in support of its argument downplaying the role of affordability, ITIF may confuse readers by citing research without the proper context.