U.S. broadband policy has long emphasized the importance of facilities-based competition—competition among providers who use their own infrastructure rather than leasing others’—due to its potential to encourage investment, improve quality, and lower prices. Today, focus has shifted to considering ways of getting the last unconnected people online. It is natural to wonder if, among its benefits, facilities-based competition could encourage adoption. The answer is not obvious. On one hand, more competition nearly always brings benefits of some sort, and additional varieties of offers to encourage the unconnected to subscribe might be among them. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that competition will focus on acquiring subscribers who have the weakest demand for broadband, and therefore may have little effect on adoption.
