Broadband

Join ITIF for a panel discussion featuring submarine cable owners and operators as they delve into the past, present, and future of this essential industry. Learn about the technological advances, policy challenges, and global implications shaping the world beneath the waves.

Nevada’s broadband plan wastes millions on overpriced fiber projects, ignoring cost-effective solutions like satellite service and neglecting affordability—the real driver of the digital divide.

In most cases, local governments have neither the competence nor the economies of scale to deliver broadband as well as private ISPs. So, favoring government-owned networks wastes societal resources, creates unfair competition, and is frequently unsustainable in the long run.

Private ISPs have invested the equivalent of 2 BEAD programs every year since the BEAD statute was enacted.

To the extent that the Commission is worried about whether data caps are too low, it should change its policies that have disincentivized broadband investment so consumers can benefit from increases in overall broadband network capacity.

The FCC will likely lose its partisan bid to regulate broadband Internet service under Title II of the Communications Act, either under the major questions doctrine or under the normal principles of statutory interpretation. That eventual decision will confirm it would have been better off focusing on policies that actually benefit consumers.

Canadian telecommunications policy under successive governments has taken for granted that the domestic industry suffers an inadequate supply of market participants. But that assumption is unmoored from reality on various fronts.

Project LEIA is an excellent opportunity to move in the right direction, and we commend NTIA for this bold approach.

A recent working paper found that a 10 percent increase in broadband Internet access among county residents leads to 0.11 fewer suicide deaths per county, a 1.02 percent reduction in suicides overall.

The NTIA’s “Middle-Class Affordability” requirement for BEAD undermines the program’s goal of universal broadband access by diverting funds and potentially imposing rate regulation, ultimately harming consumers by stifling competition and reducing deployment efficiency.