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Broadband


High-speed data connections, or broadband, are critical to the economy. Our work on broadband covers a wide range of topics, including the digital divide, wireline and wireless provision, spectrum, net neutrality, competition, and more.

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Commentaries and Op-Eds

Use the Market to Allocate Spectrum

Congress is now considering legislation to grant the FCC new authority to hold voluntary incentive auctions for spectrum. This legislation would alleviate shortages of spectrum that are threatening to hold back the development of a wireless broadband platform capable of competing with wireline platforms. It would boost the economy and advance our progress toward a more efficient, market-oriented spectrum regime.

Research Papers

How to Create a More Efficient Broadband Universal Service Program by Incorporating Demand and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

The existing high-cost fund suffers from two inherent flaws: it does not incorporate how much consumers value the services being subsidized, and does not measure the incremental, rather than average, effects of the program. This paper proposes a way to incorporate those factors into the Connect America Fund�the proposed high-cost broadband support program�to enable it to operate more efficiently than the existing high-cost program ever could.

Press Releases

Event – Spectrum Incentive Auctions: the Nuts, Bolts and Economics

The FCC and the Administration want to make 120 MHz of spectrum currently used for broadcast available for other, presumably higher-value, wireless uses. Policymakers are proposing using voluntary auctions to encourage broadcasters to sell their licenses, but questions remain on how these incentive auctions would work in practice. Discussion at “Spectrum Incentive Auctions: the Nuts, Bolts and Economics,” hosted by the Technology Policy Institute, will focus on the economics of auctions and how spectrum incentive auctions should be structured to provide the most efficient outcomes for stakeholders. Discussants will also answer questions submitted by attendees. Questions can be submitted anonymously on the TPI website.

Press Releases

USF Reform Should Include Low-Income Subsides, Competitive Auctions

Transitioning the use of universal service funds to subsidize broadband creates a unique opportunity to reform the program. Reforms should include a focus on low-income subsides and competitive bidding in high-cost service areas, explain Scott Wallsten and Gregory Rosston in “The Path to Universal Broadband: Why We Should Grant Low-Income Subsides, and Use Auctions and Experiments to Determine the Specifics” recently published by The Economists’ Voice.

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