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A new measure of US residential broadband availability

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  • Kolko, Jed

Abstract

The only comprehensive published indicator of residential broadband availability in the US is number of providers in each ZIP code, as reported by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This measure has been widely used in academic and policy research to assess availability and to identify under-served areas, but it is acknowledged to be flawed and is often misinterpreted. This paper develops an alternative measure of residential broadband availability. Using the December 2005 FCC data and individual broadband adoption data from Forrester Research, the paper estimates a relationship between the number of providers in a ZIP code and the level of residential broadband availability in the ZIP code. Broadband is estimated to be available to 53% of households in ZIP codes with 1-3 providers, rising to 100% in ZIP codes with 14 or more providers. Aggregating these estimates at the national level implies that broadband was available to 85% of households in December 2005. Availability was highest in southern and western metropolitan areas like Miami and San Jose. Using these estimates of availability, population density and average income both have positive and highly statistically significant effects on broadband supply. The results provide a user-friendly tool to help policymakers assess broadband availability. The estimates are also useful for future research about the effects of broadband availability.

Suggested Citation

  • Kolko, Jed, 2010. "A new measure of US residential broadband availability," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 132-143, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:34:y:2010:i:3:p:132-143
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    Cited by:

    1. Suvrat Dhanorkar & Suresh Muthulingam, 2020. "Do E‐Waste Laws Create Behavioral Spillovers? Quasi‐Experimental Evidence from California," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(7), pages 1738-1766, July.
    2. Elizabeth A. Mack & Tony H. Grubesic, 2014. "US broadband policy and the spatio-temporal evolution of broadband markets," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 291-308, August.
    3. Whitacre, Brian & Gallardo, Roberto, 2020. "State broadband policy: Impacts on availability," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(9).
    4. Botos, S. & Herdon, M., 2013. "Differences of Broadband Network Infrastructure, e-Readiness and Usage in EU Rural Regions," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 5(4), pages 1-7, December.
    5. Kim, Younjun & Orazem, Peter F., 2012. "Broadband internet and firm entry: evidence from rural Iowa," ISU General Staff Papers 201212030800001078, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. Bekkerman, Anton & Gilpin, Gregory, 2013. "High-speed Internet growth and the demand for locally accessible information content," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-10.
    7. Mack, Elizabeth A. & Wentz, Elizabeth, 2017. "Industry variations in the broadband business nexus," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 51-62.
    8. Dinterman, Robert & Renkow, Mitch, 2017. "Evaluation of USDA's Broadband Loan Program: Impacts on broadband provision," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 140-153.
    9. Victor Stango & Jonathan Zinman, 2014. "Limited and Varying Consumer Attention: Evidence from Shocks to the Salience of Bank Overdraft Fees," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(4), pages 990-1030.
    10. Kolko, Jed, 2010. "How broadband changes online and offline behaviors," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 144-152, May.
    11. Kolko, Jed, 2012. "Broadband and local growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 100-113.
    12. Li, Raymond & Shiu, Alice, 2012. "Internet diffusion in China: A dynamic panel data analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 872-887.
    13. Mack, Elizabeth A. & Maciejewski, Ross, 2015. "A profile of visual analytical toolkits for understanding the spatio-temporal evolution of broadband provision," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 320-332.
    14. Victor M. Bennett & Robert Seamans & Feng Zhu, 2015. "Cannibalization and option value effects of secondary markets: Evidence from the US concert industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(11), pages 1599-1614, November.
    15. Prummer, Anja, 2020. "Micro-targeting and polarization," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    16. Robert Seamans & Feng Zhu, 2017. "Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(2), pages 83-99, June.
    17. Elizabeth A. Mack, 2014. "Broadband and knowledge intensive firm clusters: Essential link or auxiliary connection?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(1), pages 3-29, March.
    18. Elizabeth A. Mack, 2015. "Variations in the Broadband-Business Connection across the Urban Hierarchy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 400-423, September.
    19. Amorim, Guilherme & Lima, Rafael Costa & Sampaio, Breno, 2022. "Broadband internet and protests: Evidence from the Occupy movement," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).

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    Keywords

    Broadband Availability Telecom FCC;

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