A broadband integrated time series (BITS) for longitudinal analyses of the digital divide

Abstract

To evaluate actions taken to implement the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the primary goal of which was to foster competition in the industry, the FCC created a standardized form (Form 477) to collect information about broadband deployment and competition in local telephone service. These data represent the best publicly available record of broadband provision in the United States. Despite the potential benefits offered by this database, there are several nuances to these data related to shifting geographies and reporting requirements that uncorrected, prevent them from being used as an uninterrupted time series for longitudinal analyses. Given the analytical challenges associated with the FCC Form 477 data, the purpose of this paper is to present a solution to the fragmented nature of these data which prevents meaningful longitudinal analyses of the digital divide. Specifically, this paper develops and describes a procedure for producing an integrated broadband time series (BITS) for the last decade (2008–2018). This includes the procedures for using these data, their value to social and economic analysis, and their underlying limitations. The core contribution of this paper is the creation of data infrastructure for investigating the evolution of the digital divide.

A Review of the Literature About Broadband Internet Connections and Rural Development (1995-2022)

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Does broadband affect local economic outcomes less than we thought? Micro evidence from Louisiana

“…Form 477 data, required under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, was first made publicly available in 1999. The information that has been collected and reported has changed periodically (Mack et al., 2021). Early vintages of the data (pre‐2014) included the number of providers that offered broadband services in specified ranges and geographies, mostly at the zip‐code level.…”

The Multi-Technology Footprint of the National Broadband Network in Australia: Exploring the Urban-Regional Divide and Socio-spatial Patterns for Inequality

“…There is also growing interest and activity in developing municipal and/or multistakeholder systems for communities – especially for locales with limited or poorly performing private broadband providers (Koch 2018; Whitacre and Gallardo 2020; Whitacre and Mills 2016). However, even with providers investing $78.1 billion (USD) in 2019, the urban-rural divide perseveres in the United States (Mack et al 2021; Saperstein 2019). Rural areas with poor broadband availability and service see slower business growth, lower housing prices, and more inequality between business owners (Conroy and Low 2021; Conley and Whitacre 2020).…”