Broadband un-adopters

• Broadband “un-adopters” comprise 12% of all non-adopting households as of 2013.
• Cost, ability to use the Internet elsewhere, and inadequacy of computer are main reasons for discontinued use.
• Multinomial logit used to assess reasons for un-adoption.
• Policies to target un-adopters should be tailored to specific demographic characteristics.
• Data from the FCC’s Low-Income Broadband Pilot Project suggests 22% of participants are un-adopters.

An important but understudied aspect of the current broadband adoption situation is households that once had Internet connectivity but no longer do. These households, termed “un-adopters,” comprised 12% of all non-adopting households as of 2013. In comparison with their “never-adopter” counterparts, un-adopters are significantly more likely to cite cost, the potential to use the Internet elsewhere, and the inadequacy of their computer as reasons for their discontinued use. Using national data from the 2013 Current Population Survey, a multinomial logit model assesses the reasons that these households no longer maintain a broadband connection. The findings suggest that to reach un-adopters, subsidized access may be warranted for households with incomes up to $40,000, and that programs on broadband awareness may be most effectively targeted towards retirees. These results are reinforced with recent data from the FCC’s Low-Income Broadband Pilot Projects, where approximately 22% of those signing up for the program were previous un-adopters. Understanding and engaging un-adopters will be crucial as the FCC Low-income Broadband program and other adoption-oriented policies move forward.