STUDIES

Latest Study -- June, 2010:

A New Analysis of Broadband Adoption Rates
By Minority Households

Robert J. Shapiro and Kevin Hassett

This paper examines the link between achieving universal broadband service across minority
groups and various approaches to pricing that service. The issue is important because significant
gaps in broadband adoption linked to race and income persist.

Based on historic patterns of technology diffusion with respect to personal computers and dial up
Internet, simulations show that all groups of Americans might normally achieve universal
broadband adoption by 2017 or 2018. In fact, the percentage of Americans with home
broadband service climbed by 25 percent during the two years ending in October 2009. But
exploding demand for additional bandwidth, associated with the rapid spread of video
applications, is disrupting this natural trend by requiring Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to
undertake hundreds of billions of dollars in additional network investments. Funding these
necessary investments will require additional revenues from subscribers or content providers.
The way in which those costs are recovered, however, will significantly affect the pace of
broadband adoption, because price is the largest factor determining whether a household
subscribes to broadband service. ...Read more