Ubiquitous high-speed fiber-based and mobile broadband availability is a key economic policy goal in the European Union and other developed countries. Policymakers seek to boost economic growth, productivity, and employment, especially in remote areas, through ambitious broadband targets and substantial public funding. This paper reviews the existing literature on high-speed broadband Internet and its socioeconomic impact on key outcome variables. Our main findings are that (1) the socioeconomic benefits in terms of economic growth, productivity, house prices, and education, as well as economic resilience, are high but are also subject to diminishing returns beyond a certain broadband quality level, (2) the effects on employment are more ambiguous, (3) the positive socioeconomic effects take hold only after broadband adoption on the demand side, but not with mere availability on the supply side, and (4) the effects of broadband differ significantly for urban vs. rural and high-skilled vs. low-skilled workers for some of the outcome variables.

Sterling Williams Jr. was retired from the U.S. Airforce, bored, and looking for a fulfilling way to spend his time. His niece made a suggestion: going to college. Williams was intrigued but concerned about keeping a flexible schedule. Between picking his niece up from school and waiting for appointments at the Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic, the idea of commuting back and forth for classes seemed like a significant obstacle. Then he learned South Texas College would give him a laptop and hotspot to attend classes remotely. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded South Texas College over $2.85 million dollars from the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC) to provide hotspots and laptops to students, expand network capacity, and support digital learning. Before the CMC program, Williams did not have a reliable computer or Internet access. Now he can log in from anywhere and complete his assignments at his own pace. “It gives me something to look forward to for the day,” Williams said. “I’ve got quizzes and classwork to do, and once I’ve done that, I can get on with the rest of my day.”

In 2023, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel called for a new Learn Without Limits Initiative spearheaded by the FCC. Initially, this meant expanding E-Rate––a Universal Service Fund program that helps to make telecommunications services more affordable for schools and libraries––funding to support Wi-Fi on school buses and Wi-Fi hotspots at libraries, school libraries, and schools for patrons or students in need. Now the initiative has expanded to encompass a variety of actions to close the Homework Gap. The most recent action, adopted on June 6, 2024, is the three-year, $200 million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program.

Naysayers of fixed wireless access (FWA) be warned—the technology’s usage continues to climb. According to Parks Associates’ newly launched Broadband Market Tracker, FWA adoption through a mobile network operator hit 7.8 million US residential home internet connections in Q1. Kristen Hanich, director of research at Parks Associates, said FWA and satellite internet are the “fastest growing” segments of the broadband market, “attracting consumers who were previously unserved or underserved by traditional providers.” Interestingly, two of the largest players in the FWA space—T-Mobile and Verizon—both reported slower growth rates in FWA net adds for the first quarter. In T-Mobile’s case though, the drop from 500,000 to 400,000 net adds per quarter was expected.