Research Papers

Wireless

Network Management Restrictions May Harm Rural Wireless Internet Service Consumers American Consumer Institute, May 2, 2008

The American Consumer Institute today released a ConsumerGram noting that the debate over the network management practices of ISPs has largely overlooked the impact of potential legislation on rural wireless consumers. The report concludes that even the best-intentioned policies produce unintended consequences, and network management prohibitions could threaten the existence of small, rural wireless ISPs, thereby harming their customers. Read More.

Fewer Hang-ups with U.S. Wireless Telephone Competition: American Consumers Use More Minutes and Pay Lower Prices American Consumer Institute, Sept. 27, 2007. Read More

Broadband

Home Broadband Adoption 2007 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, June 2007

The latest home broadband study by the Pew Internet Project finds that 47 percent of all adult Americans have a broadband connection at home, a five percentage point increase from early 2006. Also noteworthy, “the percentage of African-American adults with a home broadband connection has nearly tripled, from 14 percent in early 2005 to 40 percent in early 2007.” Read More

Broadband is booming in Texas
As of December 2005, there were 3.5 million broadband subscribers in Texas – an 80 percent increase since 2003. Broadband subscribership in Texas has grown from 152,518 in December 1999, to more than 3.4 million as of December 2005. Texas has the fourth-highest number of high-speed lines in the country. Read More… [pdf]

Even so, how much broadband capacity is enough? Click here to find out. [pdf]

Video

Senate Bill 5 is working for Texas:
Video-enabled “fiber to the home” has grown 8 times faster in Texas than it has in the rest of the country since Senate Bill 5 was signed into law. More than 80% of video providers say SB 5 is accelerating their deployments. Three times more Texas households currently have the option of receiving television over high-speed fiber than other U.S. households. Read More [pdf]

Reducing Barriers to Investments in Fiber Connections and Advanced Broadband Services for American Households by Kevin A. Hassett and Robert J. Shapiro, Internet Innovation Alliance, February 2007

The Internet Innovation Alliance found that telecommunications companies will need to invest tens of billions of dollars to bring fiber to all American consumers, businesses and local governments. It notes that one of the most significant barriers is the thousands of individual franchise agreements required by local jurisdictions across the country…Read More