Presentation of Professor James Prieger at TechNet's State Policy Conference, San Francisco, December 10, 2015

1. THE GROWTH OF THE
BROADBAND INTERNET
ACCESS MARKET IN
CALIFORNIA
DEPLOYMENT, COMPETITION,
ADOPTION, AND CHALLENGES FOR
POLICY
JAMES E. PRIEGER
PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY
PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
MALIBU, CALIFORNIA

2. NUMBER OF BROADBAND LINES
1999 TO 2013
Source: FCC. The counting of mobile BB lines was revised In 2008.

3. BROADBAND IN CALIFORNIA
38.7 million broadband lines in California.
The annualized growth rate of broadband
lines in California has been 30.4% since
1999.
138 broadband providers in California
(including mobile).
A typical California consumer has access to
several providers and types of broadband

4. Source: author’s calculations using data from National BB Map. BB defined as 3 Mbps down/768 kbps up or better.

5. BROADBAND IN CALIFORNIA
97.9% of Californians lived in Census block
groups with access to fixed broadband speeds
of 10 Mbps/
1.5 Mbps service.
80% of Californians have adopted broadband
in the home (including mobile broadband).
99.8% of Californian business establishments
were in areas with access to a fixed broadband
provider of 10 Mbps/1.5 Mbps service.

6. 0
10
20
30
40
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
state total 1 provider
2 providers 3 providers
4 providers
FIXED BROADBAND: ACCESS TO
PROVIDERS
10 MBPS DOWN/1.5 MBPS UP, 2010 TO 2014
Source: author’s calculations using data from National BB Map

7. FIXED BROADBAND: ACCESS TO
VARIOUS DOWNLOAD SPEEDS
2010 TO 2014
Source: author’s calculations using data from National BB Map
0
10
20
30
40
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
state total speed ≥ 10 Mbps
speed ≥ 25 Mbps speed ≥ 50 Mbps
speed ≥ 100 Mbps speed ≥ 1 Gbps

8. THE ADOPTION CHALLENGE: WHY
20% CHOOSE NOT TO SUBSCRIBE
Source: Pew Research Center, 2013

9. WHAT ARE REASONABLE GOALS
FOR BROADBAND ADOPTION?
A 5-YEAR TIMEFRAME

10. WHAT ARE REASONABLE GOALS
FOR BROADBAND ADOPTION?
A 5-YEAR TIMEFRAME

11. POLICY TO SUPPORT ACCESS
AND ADOPTION
First, do no harm: Resist old (and new)
temptations for state Internet regulation
Remove real-world barriers to
encourage deployment of broadband
infrastructure
Coordinate state and federal efforts to
encourage deployment and adoption

12. THANK YOU!
Contact me if you would like a copy of the
report.
James.Prieger@Pepperdine.edu