The role of competition in the offered speeds of high speed internet service providers.

摘要

The appropriate way to regulate Internet Service Providers has in recent months been the subject of much public attention. The effects of such regulations on the quality of high speed Internet offerings are unclear. In order to inform how certain regulations may affect product quality, this paper teases out the effect competition has on the quality of products of high speed Internet Service Providers using data recently made available by the FCC, with upload speeds and download speeds proxying for quality. Utilizing multivariate regression controlling for demographic and economic factors, this paper analyzes broadband data published at the census block level to tease out competition's effect. After analyzing a dataset of nearly 21,000,000 observations, it is clear that there is a statistically significant relationship between the amount of competition high speed Internet Service Providers face and the quality of the products they offer. Consequently, policymakers seeking to improve the quality of high speed Internet offerings could use regulatory strictness or laxity to induce competition in the market and increase overall product quality.