Abstract

Demand for broadband internet has far outpaced its availability. In addition, the "new normal" imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has further disadvantaged unserved and underserved areas. To address this challenge, federal and state agencies are funding internet service providers (ISPs) to deploy broadband infrastructure in these areas. To support goals to provide broadband service to as many people as possible as quickly as possible, policymakers and ISPs may benefit from better tools to predict take rates and formulate effective strategies to increase the adoption of high-speed internet. However, there is typically insufficient data available to understand consumer attitudes. We propose using an agent-based model grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior, a behavioral theory that explains the consumer's decision-making process. The model simulates residential broadband adoption by capturing the effect of market competition, broadband service attributes, and consumer characteristics. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this type of tool via a use case in Missouri to show how simulation results can inform predictions of broadband adoption. In the model, broadband take rates increase as the presence of existing internet users in the area increases and price decreases. With further development, this type of simulation can guide decision-making for infrastructure and digital literacy investment based on demand as well as support the design of market subsidies that aim to reduce the digital divide.

Department(s)

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

Publication Status

Open Access

Comments

General Electric, Grant None

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1932-6203

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2024 The Authors, All rights reserved.

Creative Commons Licensing

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Publication Date

01 Jun 2024

PubMed ID

38843157

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