The literature on broadband policies has been focusing on the possible role of mobile broadband as a means foraddressing geographical digital divide in areas with no or inadequate fixed broadband infrastructure coverage.Broadband plans designed by most of the industrialized countries take the substitutability between fixed and mobiletechnologies for granted, with restrictions essentially relating only to bandwidth performance. We explorethe determinants of individuals' private access (away from work) to the Internet with the smartphone through amobile broadband connection, focusing on the role played by Internet uses and taking into account the availabilityof a fixed broadband connection at home. The results of our econometric exercise, carried out on microdatareferred to Italian individuals, provide original and interesting evidence: a complementarity effect between mobileand fixed broadband is found for browsing, video streaming, gaming and cloud services; a substitution effectemerges for social networking and music streaming. Such increasing complexity of individuals’ broadband usagepatterns should be acknowledged in the way broadband coverage is mapped and policies designed, adopting amore ecosystem-oriented approach which integrates supply- and demand-side features. A first step in this directionis the inclusion of some, so far neglected, key-attributes of the demand (data traffic allowance, latency, easeof interconnection with Internet capable devices) among the relevant dimensions of policy design.

Are mobile and fixed broadband substitutes or complements? New empirical evidence from Italy and implications for the digital divide policies / Quaglione, Davide; Matteucci, Nicola; Furia, Donatella; Marra, Alessandro; Pozzi, Cesare. - In: SOCIO-ECONOMIC PLANNING SCIENCES. - ISSN 0038-0121. - ELETTRONICO. - 71:(2020). [10.1016/j.seps.2020.100823]

Are mobile and fixed broadband substitutes or complements? New empirical evidence from Italy and implications for the digital divide policies

Matteucci Nicola;
2020-01-01

Abstract

The literature on broadband policies has been focusing on the possible role of mobile broadband as a means foraddressing geographical digital divide in areas with no or inadequate fixed broadband infrastructure coverage.Broadband plans designed by most of the industrialized countries take the substitutability between fixed and mobiletechnologies for granted, with restrictions essentially relating only to bandwidth performance. We explorethe determinants of individuals' private access (away from work) to the Internet with the smartphone through amobile broadband connection, focusing on the role played by Internet uses and taking into account the availabilityof a fixed broadband connection at home. The results of our econometric exercise, carried out on microdatareferred to Italian individuals, provide original and interesting evidence: a complementarity effect between mobileand fixed broadband is found for browsing, video streaming, gaming and cloud services; a substitution effectemerges for social networking and music streaming. Such increasing complexity of individuals’ broadband usagepatterns should be acknowledged in the way broadband coverage is mapped and policies designed, adopting amore ecosystem-oriented approach which integrates supply- and demand-side features. A first step in this directionis the inclusion of some, so far neglected, key-attributes of the demand (data traffic allowance, latency, easeof interconnection with Internet capable devices) among the relevant dimensions of policy design.
2020
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11566/275142
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