Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
A Policymaker’s Guide to Rural Broadband Infrastructure
With discussion of a potential infrastructure package at some point in the Trump Administration that many rightfully hope will include rural broadband, it is worth examining previous attempts to spur rural broadband service, revisiting the basic policies used to encourage broadband deployment in those geographies where the economics do not support competitive delivery, and distilling guidance for any new attempts at the same.
Congress should take the opportunity to support a major infrastructure package by designating a portion of the funds for broadband deployment to rural and lessdensely populated areas. But to do this effectively, any program should be designed to follow the principles articulated in this report. This report first lays out an overview of infrastructure policy more generally, then examines how those high-level principles should apply in the broadband context. Next, it discusses existing rural broadband programs with an eye toward their successes and shortcomings. It then discusses some available policy tools on the table for a future push for rural broadband deployment before offering concluding principles that should guide any future broadband infrastructure legislation.
The Myth of Data Monopoly: Why Antitrust Concerns About Data Are Overblown
Recently, a number of legal experts and policy activists have called on antitrust regulators to incorporate the possession of data into their analyses of mergers and possible anticompetitive practices. These observers fear that control of large amounts of data will give companies an unfair advantage over competitors, allowing them to use their market power to harm consumers and competitors. These claims are incorrect.
Data-rich companies are not an economic threat, but rather an important source of innovation, which policymakers should encourage, not limit. And because the use of data is non-rivalrous, one company’s possession of data does not come at the expense of another’s. As such, there is no need to impose additional antitrust scrutiny merely because a company relies on data to conduct business. Moreover, regulators already have sufficient powers to deal with any actual behavioral problems that may arise.
Why So Sad? A Look at the Change in Tone of Technology Reporting From 1986 to 2013
This report looks at the way that the US print media has covered technology over the past 30 years, examining the claims that a typical reader of national newspapers is likely to have seen during that time.
The findings show that coverage of technology in the 1980s and early 1990s was largely favorable, with a heavy focus on the economic and military advantages afforded by advancing technologies. In the late 1980s, in particular, there was a notable focus on the economic opportunities afforded by the developing technology sector and its offerings. However, that tone has gradually shifted over the years, with more articles highlighting the potential ill effects of technology: its displacement of face-to-face interaction, its role in environmental degradation, its threat to employment, and its failure to live up to some of the promises made on its behalf. The findings also indicate that positive and negative claims are more likely to be associated with certain segments of society than others. Claims about the potentials of technology and their associated benefits are more likely to come out of the private sector, while claims about the potential problems are more likely to come from actors in civil society and government.