CONNECTED CITIES AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH (CCIG)
Policy Brief # 3 October 2018
Trends in Broadband Competition in Los Angeles County 2015-2016
Lack of competition in the provision of residential broadband services has been a concern for local governments for at least a decade. These concerns relate not only to the detrimental effect of weak competition on infrastructure investments, access prices and service quality. Healthy competition in Internet access services is the best defense against potential abuses by dominant actors that may limit innovation in digital services and infringe on free speech.
This policy brief analyzes trends in residential broadband coverage and competition in LA county. It is based on information about Internet availability and service speeds at the census block level collected by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for 2015-2016 (the most recent available). This information is combined with data from the American Community Survey (ACS) for the same period to shed light on the relation between broadband investments and community demographics.
Connected Cities and Inclusive Growth (CCIG) is a collaboration: USC Annenberg Research Network for International Communication (ARNIC) and the USC Price Spatial Analysis Lab (SLAB).
More information about the project can be found at arnicusc.org/research/connected-cities.
