Accessability of Broadband Communication Services by Various Segments of the American Population

Technology such as the Internet is becoming an important ingredient for economic and socialadvancement. There is a growing national concern about the ability of all segments of theAmerican society to be able to access and benefit from advanced telecommunications services.In this research we estimate the impact that supply costs, demographic and economic variableshave on the decision to offer residential broadband services. By controlling for the variousfactors that influence a firm?s decision to enter a market, we model the factors that explain thevariation in the availability of broadband data services. The results from this analysis provideinsights into a number of interesting academic and policy questions. Consistent with previousresearch done on general Internet access, our results suggest that high-speed access to theInternet is more likely to be available in urbanized area. As expected, the higher the line density,the more likely services are available. Also, we found that the higher the average fixed cost, theless likely advanced technology will be deployed. Our statistical analysis also suggests thatresidential customers in areas served by Regional Bell Operating Companies, all else equal, areequally likely to have high-speed access to the Internet as customers served by Independenttelephone companies.