ITIF Report: How Technological Innovation Shapes America’s 435 Congressional Districts

“Contrary to perceptions, America’s innovation-driven, high-tech economy is not concentrated around hubs like Silicon Valley; it is widely diffused—and every state and congressional district has a stake in its success.”

John Wu, et. al, “High-Tech Nation: How Technological Innovation Shapes America’s 435 Congressional Districts” ITIF (Nov. 28, 2016).

View Summary of Report HERE.

 

Study: Broadband Competition Helps to Drive Lower Prices and Faster Download Speeds

Study identifies a strong relationship between price and service offerings and the level of competition in a market.

Dan Mahoney and Greg Rafert, “Broadband Competition Helps to Drive Lower Prices and Faster Download Speeds for U.S. Residential Consumers” Analysis Group (Nov. 2016).

Joanne Hovis and Marc Schulhof, Jim Baller and Ashley Stelfox, “The Emerging World of Broadband Public-Private Partnerships: A Business Strategy and Legal Guide,” The Benton Foundation (Feb 2016)

Hovis and Schulhof, Baller and Stelfox, The Emerging World of Broadband Public-Private Partnerships: A Business Strategy and Legal Guide (2-16-16)

Report: Rural Utilities Service Broadband Loans and Economic Performance in Rural America

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report examining the economic impact of the Rural Utilities Service’s (RUS) Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program.

Report Issued March 27, 2015.

 

 

“Economic Development: The Killer App for Local Fiber Networks,” Broadband Communities Magazine, Nov-Dec 2014

Jim Baller, Joanne Hovis, Ashley Stelfox, Masha Zager, “Economic Development:  The Killer App for Local Fiber Networks,” Broadband Communities Magazine, Nov-Dec 2014

Arthur D. Little: “National Fibre Strategies”

The socioeconomic benefits of advanced telecommunications infrastructure and services are intuitive, as well as definitive. Global studies by Arthur D. Little on the socioeconomic benefits of broadband have demonstrated the links between advanced telecommunications and the diversity and strength of economies.

Planning for Progress: Why National Plans Matter

In today’s digital era, the role for broadband – and the benefits of broadband connectivity – in underpinning a country’s progress have never been greater. That is why ITU and the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Digital Development have conducted research into the role of policy frameworks for broadband, in conjunction with Cisco.

This Report finds that there has been strong recent growth in Plans, with some 134 Plans in force by mid-2013. Plans may take different forms (e.g. legislation, policy framework, strategy and/or regulations) and vary in emphasis (e.g. IT, Information Society, ICT,
Digital Agenda, or Broadband). Plans prior to 2005 tended to focus on Information Technology (IT) or Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The Information Society proved most popular as the focus of Plans in 2007-2008, with broadband growing sharply as the focus of Plans from 2008 onwards. Most recently, Digital Agendas account for a small, but growing, number of Plans. However, all of these Plans share a common emphasis on the vital role of broadband in underpinning national competitiveness, and aim to extend national footprint of broadband networks and usage of broadband-enabled services and applications.

Broadband’s Contribution to Economic Health in Rural Areas

This paper uses the latest data on both broadband availability and adoption to empirically gauge the contribution of broadband to the economic health of rural areas. Researchers utilize availability data from the National Broadband Map aggregated to county level, and county-level adoption data from Federal Communication Commission’s Form 477. Economic health variables of interest are gathered from a variety of sources and include median household income, number of firms with paid employees, total employed, percentage in poverty, and the percentage of employees classified as either creative class or non-farm proprietors. A propensity score matching technique (between a “treated” group and a control group) is used to make causal statements regarding broadband and economic health. Researchers measure whether the growth rates between 2001 and 2010 for different economic measures are statistically different for the treated and non-treated groups, restricting the analysis to non-metropolitan counties.