The Pennsylvania Broadband Research Institute
The Pennsylvania Broadband Research (PBR) Institute focuses on campaigns and research to expand broadband access to underserved communities throughout the Commonwealth.
The PBR Institute was founded in January 2023 by the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at the Pennsylvania State University and the Media, Inequality & Change (MIC) Center, housed at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
Over the coming months, the Institute will produce policy briefs, research reports, op-eds, and academic articles detailing how a more equitable and just internet can be realized in Pennsylvania, including alternative means of internet provision such as public broadband and community wireless networks.
Specifically, we are:
- Convening academics to analyze the political and economic structures and decision-making processes regarding broadband and telecommunications policy
- Generating critical policy research pertaining to broadband and telecommunications
- Working with local communities to diagnose their connectivity needs
- Facilitating impactful change in broadband and telecommunications policy at the state and federal policy levels that will better serve the general public
Publications
The Digital Divide in Comcast Town
David Elliot Berman, Ph.D. and Pawel Popiel, Ph.D.
During the outbreak of COVID-19, Philadelphia’s government had little choice but to partner with Comcast to help connect the unconnected throughout the city. Comcast’s immense influence over municipal broadband policy and its effective monopoly on low-income internet plans in Philadelphia ensured that the ISP became an essential player in the city’s response to the connectivity crisis.
What does Project 2025 have to say about broadband regulation?
Abby Simmerman
The FCC chapter of the Mandate for Leadership, penned by conservative FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, covers goals for broadband under a new administration. If Trump enacts these regulatory suggestions, Project 2025 will usher in a new era of wild West-style deregulation for broadband.
AI and the Quest for Eternal Vigilance
Sascha Meinrath, Ph.D.
In our technological naïveté, we often personify AI software, allowing developers of AI tools to duck responsibility. We blame AI, even though it is executing exactly what companies have programmed it to do. This phenomenon is all the more problematic because these powerful algorithms are being deployed to do things that are patently illegal.
Shifting Neoliberalism in US Telecommunications Policy: A Critical Reading of Chicago School Roads
Sydney L. Forde
Popular narratives characterising neoliberal economic orthodoxy hold that all forms of government intervention are counter-productive to free markets. Conservatives who claim to embody such liberalism often trace opposition to government interventions to two founding Chicago School economists, Friedrich August von Hayek and Milton Friedman.
For millions of Americans, high-speed internet is unavailable or unaffordable − a telecommunications expert explains how to bring broadband to the places that need it the most
Christopher Ali, Ph.D.
Millions of Americans still don’t have access to high-speed internet. Christopher Ali, a professor of telecommunications at Penn State University, discusses who lacks access to broadband and how the federal government – with a US$65 billion commitment – is trying to bring more people online.
America, Disconnected: What’s Biden’s Plan for Averting Digital Disaster?
David Elliot Berman, Ph.D. and Pawel Popiel, Ph.D.
ACP has provided a crucial lifeline to many Americans who otherwise cannot afford an internet connection. Despite the commitment of successive presidential administrations to achieving universal internet access across the country, America’s poorest communities—particularly Black and Latinx neighborhoods—continue to struggle to get and stay online.
The Bad Business of BEAD
Christopher Ali, Ph.D.
With tens of billions of dollars about to be disbursed, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)—the government agency tasked with overseeing BEAD— continues to ignore a looming legal quandary that could mire the program in lawsuits.
Features
What Trump's Victory Means for Internet Policy
Christopher Ali was interviewed by Joe Supan on the state of internet policy under the Trump administration for CNET.
Hate extra fees on your internet bill? The government wants to know.
Sascha Meinrath was interviewed on data caps for home internet services for The Washington Post.
Internet Aid Cut: How the Loss of the ACP May Worsen the Mental Health Crisis
Christopher Ali was interviewed by Joe Supan on the loss of the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program for CNET.
Internet service has nutrition labels. Here's how to use them.
Sascha Meinrath was interviewed on the accessibility of internet service information for The Washington Post.
Pa.’s broadband authority reverses position on key state law before new federal funding arrives
Charlotte Keith interviewed Sascha Meinrath on the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority's changing stance on conflicts between federal and state law for Spotlight PA.
Connecting the unserved
Christopher Ali was interviewed by Sarah Stonbely about the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program for Local News Initiative.
People
Christopher Ali, Ph.D.
Pioneers Chair, Professor of Telecommunications, Pennsylvania State University
David Elliot Berman
Assistant Professor, Seton Hall University
Sydney L. Forde
Doctoral Student, Pennsylvania State University
Aaron Hyzen, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Media, Inequality & Change Center
Sascha Meinrath, Ph.D.
Palmer Chair in Telecommunications, Pennsylvania State University
Victor Pickard, Ph.D.
C. Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy
Briar Smith
Associate Director, MIC Center
Abby Simmerman
Doctoral Student, Pennsylvania State University