Determining the local and regional economic impacts of federal broadband infrastructure investments is challenging for several reasons. The size and composition of economic impact from broadband expansion depend in part on local and regional characteristics, especially the existing industrial mix in a region, the skills of the workforce, and proximity to more urbanized areas. State and local decisions about the places, timing of deployment, and speed and reliability of broadband service provided can all play an important role in shaping economic impacts. Given these challenges, NTIA is focused on delivering data and other tools to support broadband economic impact assessment.

The last two Federal Broadband Funding reports demonstrated NTIA’s milestones over the prior fiscal year to build a data-driven, evidence-based approach for assessing local and regional economic impacts of federal investments in broadband infrastructure. Rigorous, transparent impact evaluation begins with a logic model identifying how programs are expected to achieve desired outcomes. In the 2021 ACCESS BROADBAND Report (p.17), NTIA proposed a high-level logic model specific to broadband expansion, yet general enough to encompass the wide range of federal broadband investment designs. The ACCESS BROADBAND Logic Model identified three major types of federal broadband investments – infrastructure deployment funding; digital inclusion funding; and planning, data, and mapping funding – and linked them to three sets of outcomes – increased broadband availability, increased broadband usage, and improved economic outcomes.

Building on the ACCESS BROADBAND Logic Model, NTIA used the 2022 Federal Broadband Funding Report to provide a high-level overview of peer-reviewed estimates of the economic impacts of broadband expansion in the United States. Using past research and extensive consultations with experts on broadband’s impact, NTIA also developed a conceptual framework and related ACCESS BROADBAND Dashboard of economic indicators to inform economic impact evaluation efforts. The conceptual framework and associated indicators take the ACCESS BROADBAND Logic Model a step further, proposing potential pathways of impact linking broadband expansion to local and regional economic activity and identifying public, frequent, and small-scale indicators needed to assess impact. NTIA is exploring ways to update the ACCESS BROADBAND Dashboard of economic indicators over time to reflect changes in broadband availability, adoption, and economic conditions across America.

In August 2023, NTIA and the Census Bureau entered into an agreement to produce the first-ever single-year estimates of Internet adoption for small geographies. Currently, single-year estimates of Internet adoption from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey are limited to geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more. Five-year moving averages are used for geographies with fewer residents to maintain statistical reliability.⁸ Since estimates of economic impact rely on the adoption rate in the location of interest, frequent and reliable data on broadband adoption in rural and remote areas are a critical need.⁹ In addition to partnering with the Census Bureau for improving adoption data, NTIA plans to increase the functionality of the ACCESS BROADBAND Dashboard by showing changes in economic indicators and additional indicators over time.