A study of national efforts to improve broadband coverage requested by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission finds that the United States is a “middle-of-the-pack performer” on first-generation broadband and lags on advanced developments. It finds that “open access” policies are a key driver of successful broadband development, and that public investment over the long term can be a key driver.

The study, produced by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University under principal investigator Yochai Benkler, analyzed market-oriented democracies and their efforts to expand broadband, aiming to inform U.S. efforts. Broadband is conceptualized here as having two key components: high download speeds and ubiquitous, seamless access.

Open access accompanies advanced access

Our most surprising and significant finding is that “open access” policies—unbundling, bitstream access, collocation requirements, wholesaling, and/or functional separation—are almost universally understood as having played a core role in the first generation transition to broadband in most of the high performing countries; that they now play a core role in planning for the next generation transition; and that the positive impact of such policies is strongly supported by the evidence of the first generation broadband transition.

It may not be surprising that Benkler and a Berkman team would come out in favor of open access, but there is no reason to assume anything other than a good-faith inquiry. Based on case studies of half of the OECD countries, the researchers found that the countries with stronger open access provisions are out-performing others. In the advanced broadband markets of Japan and South Korea, open access “has taken the form of opening up not only the fiber infrastructure (Japan) but also requiring mobile broadband access providers to open up their networks to competitors.”

I have not read the full report, but it contains a chapter that covers the existing literature in econometrics and qualitative studies on open access. In the report, open access is touted as driving innovation by allowing new entrants to the market to lease or otherwise use infrastructure built by established firms.

Open access may drive prices down

The highest prices for the lowest speeds are mostly offered by firms in the United States and Canada, all of which inhabit markets structured around “inter-modal” competition—that is, competition between one incumbent owning a telephone system, and one incumbent owning a cable system, where the price of entry into the market is the ability to build your own infrastructure. The lowest prices and highest speeds are almost all offered by firms in markets where, in addition to an incumbent telephone company and a cable company, there are also competitors who entered the market, and built their presence, through use of open access facilities.

Though the study does not appear to be designed to show causation or even rigorous correlation between lower prices and open access, the researchers suggest that this is a key factor.

State investment has been present in better-developed broadband

Noting that the U.S. recovery funding for broadband is strong per capita at more than 7 billion, the researchers suggest that experiences in other OECD countries show that public investment has been a part of successful development.

I have lost track of the state of broadband projects, but I know the FCC is actively working on it and the recovery funds, which were reportedly to be focused on rural and under-served areas, need to be spent. It will be interesting to see whether these principles make it into U.S. broadband policy.

Tags: Berkman Center for Internet and Society, broadband, Harvard University, OECD, open access, study, U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Yochai Benkler

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