Broadband

The NTIA requires states and territories to develop iterative plans for maximizing broadband access among their residents. Grantees are currently putting out their Five-Year Plans, the first of multiple documents describing their current broadband needs, anticipated concerns, and plans for addressing them.

The success of virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) is evidence that those regulations are not necessary to facilitate the business arrangements that produce and distribute content that consumers value. At the same time, traditional cable business models are shifting, transitioning to greater broadband and IP-based video as opposed to old-fashioned MVPD models.

Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) is an industry standard, set by cable industry group CableLabs, that specifies high-bandwidth data communications. DOCSIS 4.0 is the latest standard.

The NGSO space economy is primed to take its place as a substantial contributor to broadband connectivity and other services. The Commission’s decisions in this proceeding will have durable impacts on the development of the space and broadband marketplace, so it must focus on setting a workable backdrop for coordination and negotiation that promotes productive use of satellite spectrum.

High rates of broadband adoption benefit all of society, yet those who stand to benefit the most are also least likely to be online. Pushing hard for near-universal connectivity is crucial if we want technology to help bridge, rather than widen, existing divides.

Since households that are still offline are, by definition, unable to be reached through standard methods, flexible, data-driven approaches that target solutions to remaining barriers to connectivity are key to closing the digital divide.

Of the agencies that submitted broadband funding data to NTIA, $6.7 billion was paid out for broadband-specific programs in FY 2021, and 76 percent of that went to digital inclusion and adoption.

Watch ITIF's expert panel discussion on the details and likely outcomes of the fair contribution policy proposal, and what the Internet might look like if it’s implemented.

Economists from Telecom Advisory Services estimate that greater broadband adoption and faster speeds contributed $1.3 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product between 2010 and 2020

The EU is considering a new policy that would force American content providers like Google and Netflix to effectively subsidize European ISPs. The Biden administration should push back at the next meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council.