BROADBAND

Intended Outcomes 

and Effectiveness

of Efforts to Address 

Adoption Barriers

Are Unclear

Report to Congressional Requesters

June 2015

GAO-15-473

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-15-473, a report to 

congressional requesters

June 2015

BROADBAND

Intended Outcomes and Effectiveness of Efforts to 

Address Adoption Barriers Are Unclear

Why GAO Did This Study

While broadband is available to a

majority of Americans, barriers have 

kept some from subscribing and

enjoying its benefits. In 2010, FCC 

published the National Broadband 

Plan, which noted that some 

demographic groups lagged behind 

others in adopting broadband and 

called on FCC and NTIA to take action 

to address these barriers.

GAO was asked to examine progress 

in addressing broadband adoption 

barriers. This report examines (1) 

benefits of home broadband adoption, 

(2) barriers to adoption and 

approaches to address them, and (3) 

the extent to which FCC and NTIA 

have assessed efforts and set goals to 

address barriers. GAO reviewed 

literature on benefits and barriers, 

documentation on the performance of 

efforts to address adoption barriers, 

and interviewed FCC and NTIA 

officials, 14 of the 42 BTOP grantees, 

and 21 public and private stakeholders 

selected based on GAO’s prior work 

and recommendations from other 

stakeholders.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that NTIA include 

an outcome-based goal and measure

for its broadband adoption work in its 

performance plan. NTIA stated that 

such metrics are not appropriate for its 

efforts because these efforts are 

advisory. GAO believes measuring 

outcomes is key to demonstrating 

results. GAO also recommends that 

FCC revise its strategic plan to more 

clearly state if broadband adoption is a 

priority, and if so, what outcomes FCC

intends to achieve. FCC noted that to 

the extent its plan is unclear, it will take 

steps to address the recommendation.

What GAO Found

Home broadband adoption can provide a number of social and economic 

benefits, according to literature from academic, government, and other research 

sources and interviews GAO held with researchers, consumer and industry 

organizations, and government officials. For example, broadband provides 

access to employment opportunities by providing the means to search and apply 

for jobs and participate in online job training. It also provides access to a number 

of government benefits, serves as a conduit for civic participation, and provides a 

means to connect family members, among other benefits.

Affordability, lack of perceived relevance, and lack of computer skills are the 

principal barriers to broadband adoption identified by literature and stakeholders

GAO interviewed. Efforts to address these barriers include projects to increase 

broadband adoption that were funded by grants from the National 

Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband 

Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP) and outreach and other efforts by 

the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and NTIA. GAO identified three 

key approaches used to address adoption barriers:

• Discounts on computer equipment and broadband subscriptions.

• Outreach efforts to promote broadband availability and benefits.

• Training to help people develop skills in using computers and 

broadband.

NTIA and FCC have limited information about the performance of their 

broadband adoption efforts and have not established goals articulating the 

outcomes these efforts should achieve. For example, NTIA compiled and 

published self-reported information from its BTOP grantees about best practices, 

but has not assessed the effectiveness of these approaches in addressing 

adoption barriers. Because BTOP has concluded, NTIA missed an opportunity to 

evaluate which grantees’ approaches were the most effective. NTIA’s strategic 

plan includes a goal to increase broadband use, but the agency’s performance 

plan does not include an outcome-based goal and performance indicator for its 

ongoing broadband adoption efforts, making it unclear how the agency will show 

progress toward its strategic goal. NTIA had reported new broadband 

subscribers as a result of its BTOP efforts, but no longer uses this as a 

performance metric because BTOP has largely concluded. Although FCC’s 

previous strategic plan included a goal to support broadband adoption, the 

commission issued a revised plan in 2015 with fewer broader goals, replacing the 

goal that mentioned broadband adoption with a goal that instead discusses 

broadband availability. Although lack of availability is a potential barrier, GAO’s 

literature review and stakeholder interviews more frequently mentioned the three 

barriers cited above and FCC’s broadband adoption efforts are aligned with 

those barriers. Thus, the strategic plan does not clearly reflect FCC’s actions and 

whether broadband adoption is a priority for the commission. FCC officials said 

that the new plan’s broadband goal is meant to encompass adoption efforts, but 

without including outcome-oriented goals for broadband adoption, it is unclear 

what, if any, related outcomes may be expected from FCC’s broadband adoption 

efforts.

View GAO-15-473. For more information, 

contact Mark Goldstein at (202) 512-2834 or 

goldsteinm@gao.gov.
Page i GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Letter 1

Background 4

Home Broadband Offers a Variety of Economic and Other 

Benefits 8

Affordability, Perceived Relevance, and Lack of Computer Skills 

Are Identified Broadband Adoption Barriers, Which Discounts, 

Outreach, and Training Have Sought to Address 11

NTIA Identified Best Practices for Broadband Adoption, but NTIA 

and FCC Have Not Fully Assessed the Effectiveness nor 

Clearly Articulated Intended Outcomes of Their Broadband 

Adoption Efforts 17

Conclusions 24

Recommendations 25

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 25

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 28

Appendix II: Data on Household Broadband Adoption Overall and by 

Demographic Groups, 2009 and 2013 33

Appendix III: Comments from the Federal Communications Commission 37

Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Commerce 40

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 42

Tables

Table 1: Examples of Efforts to Address Barriers to Broadband 

Adoption 14

Table 2: Academic, Consumer, Industry, and Technology 

Stakeholders GAO Interviewed 29

Table 3: Selected BTOP Projects 31

Contents
Page ii GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Figures

Figure 1: Household Broadband Adoption among Demographic 

Groups with Adoption Rates below That of All 

Households, 2009 and 2013 7

Figure 2: Household Broadband Adoption among Demographic 

Groups Sorted by Adoption Percentage, 2009 and 2013 33

Figure 3: Household Broadband Adoption among Demographic 

Groups Sorted by Demographics, 2009 and 2013 35

Abbreviations

BTOP Broadband Technology Opportunities Program

CPS Current Population Survey

DSL digital subscriber line

FCC Federal Communications Commission

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act

Mbps megabits per second

NTIA National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration

Recovery Act American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety 

without further permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain 

copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be 

necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.
Page 1 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

June 2, 2015

The Honorable Frank Pallone, Jr.

Ranking Member

Committee on Energy and Commerce

House of Representatives

The Honorable Anna G. Eshoo

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Communications and Technology

Committee on Energy and Commerce

House of Representatives

The Honorable Edward J. Markey

United States Senate

Internet with speeds at or approaching what is considered high-speed 

Internet or “broadband” has been deployed to the majority of Americans. 

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 

broadband was available to about 83 percent of U.S. households in 2013, 

an improvement from about 72 percent in 2011.1

 1

FCC, Inquiry Concerning the Deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Capability to 

All Americans in a Reasonable and Timely Fashion, and Possible Steps to Accelerate 

Such Deployment Pursuant to Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, as 

Amended by the Broadband Data Improvement Act, GN Docket No. 14-126, 2015 

Broadband Progress Report and Notice of Inquiry on Immediate Action to Accelerate 

Deployment, FCC 15-10 (rel. Feb. 4, 2015) (2015 Broadband Progress Report). The 

broadband availability data FCC presented in this report were collected by the National 

Telecommunications and Information Administration and the states in coordination with 

FCC. These data apply to types of fixed broadband, which are services that provide highspeed Internet access to a fixed point, such as cable, fiber, and digital subscriber line 

(DSL). The data exclude mobile and satellite services. FCC defines broadband, referred to 

in statute as “advanced telecommunications capability,” based on capacity or speed. 47 

U.S.C. § 1302(d)(1).The term “broadband” commonly refers to Internet service with 

speeds generally higher than dial-up connections, and our prior work has found that 

consumers may not be aware of their Internet speed. See GAO, Broadband Performance: 

Additional Actions Could Help FCC Evaluate its Efforts to Inform Consumers,

FCC has also noted, 

however, that barriers have kept some households from adopting 

GAO-15-363

(Washington, D.C.: Apr. 17, 2015). For these reasons, unless we are discussing FCC’s 

broadband availability data, we are using “broadband” more generically without reference 

to a specific speed.

Letter
Page 2 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

broadband even where it is available, preventing these households from 

enjoying the social and economic benefits broadband can provide. As 

required by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

(Recovery Act),2 FCC released the National Broadband Plan in 2010 to 

improve access to and the services provided by broadband.3 The plan 

noted that over one-third of U.S. households lacked broadband and 

identified affordability, perceived relevance, and lack of computer skills as 

key barriers to broadband adoption. Additionally, the plan noted that 

adoption was particularly low among certain demographic segments, 

including people with low income (less than $20,000 per year), with no 

high school diploma, age 65 and older, and with a disability. To address 

barriers to broadband adoption, the plan recommended actions for FCC 

and the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration (NTIA). The Recovery Act also provided funds 

to NTIA to establish the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program 

(BTOP). This program awarded about $251 million in grants to 44 

projects to improve broadband adoption.4

You asked us to review efforts to address broadband adoption barriers 

described in the National Broadband Plan. This report examines (1) what

is known about the benefits of home broadband adoption, (2) identified 

barriers to broadband adoption and approaches used to address them, 

and (3) the extent to which FCC and NTIA have assessed their 

effectiveness and set goals for addressing broadband adoption barriers.

To determine what is known about the benefits of home broadband 

adoption and broadband adoption barriers, we identified and reviewed 

academic, government, industry and trade press, and other association or 

nonprofit literature on these topics published from 2009 through 2014.5

 2

Pub. L. No. 111-5, § 6001(k)(1), 123 Stat. 115, 515-516 (2009). 

We also interviewed FCC and NTIA officials and 21 stakeholders—

including researchers, consumer groups, industry associations and 

3

FCC, Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan (Mar. 16, 2010). 

4

In addition to increasing broadband adoption, BTOP also aimed to deploy broadband to 

underserved areas, expand the capacity of public computer centers, and develop and 

maintain a map showing the availability of broadband. 

5

We limited the scope of literature to focus on (1) home broadband, as opposed to mobile 

broadband, (2) experience within the United States, and (3) articles from recent years just 

before and since the publication of FCC’s National Broadband Plan in 2010.
Page 3 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

broadband providers, and technology organizations—about broadband 

benefits and adoption barriers.6 We identified stakeholders to interview 

based on our prior telecommunications work and our review of 

contributors to the National Broadband Plan and other broadband 

adoption literature, as well as based on recommendations from other 

stakeholders we interviewed. To describe approaches used to address 

broadband adoption barriers, we identified both federal and nonfederal 

efforts by reviewing documents from and interviewing FCC and NTIA 

officials, academic researchers, consumer groups, industry associations, 

and broadband providers, and by examining 15 of the 44 BTOP projects.7

We selected these projects because they were the projects that met their 

goals for new household broadband subscribers as set in their grant 

applications.8 For these projects, we reviewed reports submitted to NTIA 

about project outcomes and, where available, third-party program 

evaluations that analyzed the effectiveness of approaches to address 

broadband adoption barriers.9 We interviewed representatives from the 

14 grantees responsible for administering these BTOP projects.10

 6

“Technology organizations” refers to organizations that seek to help consumers get 

online through partnerships with broadband providers and community organizations.

To 

determine the extent to which FCC and NTIA set goals and assessed the 

agencies’ performance to address broadband adoption barriers, we 

reviewed the agencies’ most recent strategic plans and performance 

plans to identify the agencies’ goals and performance measures related 

to broadband adoption. We reviewed documentation of NTIA’s program 

evaluation of BTOP, including the design and final report. We interviewed 

FCC and NTIA officials about their efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of 

7

Our review was not comprehensive of all efforts being taken to address broadband 

adoption barriers, since our purpose was to identify types of approaches used, not to 

catalog all efforts. We examined both federal efforts by NTIA and FCC and nonfederal 

efforts by the private sector and nonprofit organizations.

8

We selected projects that met their goals because we were interested in identifying the 

most effective approaches to addressing broadband adoption barriers and reasoned that 

projects that met their goals were more likely to have been successful at this. 

9

NTIA did not require BTOP projects to have program evaluations; however, some 

projects elected to do so. We determined which projects had third-party program 

evaluations and obtained copies of the resulting reports from either NTIA or the project 

grantees. We reviewed these evaluations to determine which ones specifically examined 

the effectiveness of projects’ approaches for addressing broadband adoption barriers.

10One grantee we interviewed administered two of the BTOP projects we examined. 

Additionally, another grantee we did not interview also administered two projects, resulting 

in 42 grantees for the 44 projects.
Page 4 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

their broadband adoption efforts and about their strategic goals and 

performance measures for these efforts. We evaluated their efforts 

against criteria for evaluating agency performance as established in our 

prior work on program evaluation and the GPRA Modernization Act of 

2010.11

We conducted this performance audit from August 2014 to June 2015 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives.

To provide contextual information about the level of broadband 

adoption among households overall and within certain demographic 

groups, we analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data from 2009 through 2013. 

We determined that these data were sufficiently reliable for showing 

differences among demographic groups and trends by reviewing 

information about how Census and NTIA have reported these data and 

interviewing Census and NTIA officials about these data and their 

limitations. See appendix I for a more detailed description of our 

objectives, scope, and methodology.

Most of the National Broadband Plan’s recommendations on broadband 

adoption were made to either FCC or NTIA, two federal agencies with 

complementary responsibilities for broadband. FCC regulates wired and 

wireless forms of communication, including the means of providing 

broadband service, such as cable, telephone, and satellite technologies. 

FCC’s role includes promoting competition, protecting consumers, and 

addressing the communications needs of underserved populations. For 

example, FCC’s Lifeline Program provides a subsidy to providers that 

offer discounted telephone service to low-income households. Through a 

broadband pilot, FCC has been examining ways to expand the Lifeline 

 11GAO, Designing Evaluations: 2012 Revision, GAO-12-208G (Washington, D.C.: January 

2012). The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-352, 124 Stat. 3866 (2011), 

amends provisions of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), 

Pub. L. No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (1993).

Background

The Recovery Act:

FCC and NTIA

Broadband Roles
Page 5 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

program to provide support for broadband service.12

The Recovery Act included provisions aimed at FCC and NTIA to address 

broadband adoption. The act provided $4.7 billion to NTIA to establish 

BTOP, through which NTIA awarded competitive grants to a variety of 

entities for broadband infrastructure, public computer centers, and to 

increase broadband access and adoption. Through the broadband 

adoption component of the program—known as the Sustainable 

Broadband Adoption grant program—NTIA awarded about $251 million to 

fund 44 broadband adoption projects across the country.

NTIA is part of the 

Department of Commerce and advises the President on 

telecommunications and information-policy issues, including broadband 

access and adoption. NTIA’s activities include administering grant 

programs that further the deployment and use of broadband and other 

technologies and developing policy on issues related to the Internet 

economy, including online privacy, copyright protection, and 

cybersecurity.

13 The purpose 

of this program was to increase Internet use and broadband 

subscribership among individuals and businesses. The Recovery Act also 

authorized NTIA to transfer a portion of its funds to FCC to develop the 

National Broadband Plan, a document to outline ways to ensure that 

every American had access to broadband service. FCC published the 

National Broadband Plan in 2010.14

 12We did not assess FCC’s Lifeline broadband pilot as part of this report. Rather, FCC’s 

Lifeline program, including its broadband pilot, was the subject of our March 2015 report in 

which we examined the status of FCC’s efforts to reform the program, the extent to which 

households participate in the program and face challenges in accessing and retaining its 

benefits, and FCC’s plans to evaluate the broadband pilot. GAO, Telecommunications:

FCC Should Evaluate the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Lifeline Program, 

The plan’s chapter on broadband 

adoption provided data on the status of broadband adoption among U.S. 

households overall and within certain demographics, discussed the 

GAO-15-335 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 24, 2015).

13Although NTIA initially funded 44 projects, the City of Tallahassee terminated its grant, 

leaving 43 projects that were completed or ongoing as of November 2014. NTIA reported 

in June 2012 that the City of Tallahassee had returned its $1.2 million award.

14National Broadband Plan. 
Page 6 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

barriers to adoption faced by those that lack broadband at home, and 

recommended actions for FCC and NTIA to address those barriers.15

According to U.S. Census data, an estimated 73 percent of U.S. 

households had adopted broadband as of 2013, a statistically significant 

increase of 9 percentage points from 2009.16 Estimated broadband 

adoption levels were significantly higher in 2013 than 2009 for all of the 

demographic groups we examined; however, some groups had estimated 

levels of broadband adoption below the level for households overall. For 

example, the estimated adoption level among households headed by a 

person age 65 and older increased a statistically significant 14 

percentage points from 40 percent to 54 percent from 2009 to 2013.17

Hispanics also showed a similar increase during this time—an estimated 

12 percentage points, from 49 to 61 percent.18

 15For example, the plan recommended that FCC provide free or low-cost broadband for 

low-income Americans, that NTIA form partnerships with public and private entities to 

promote broadband benefits, and that both agencies work together to create a national 

program to help Americans learn to use computers and the Internet. 

However, older Americans 

and Hispanics are an estimated 19 and 12 percentage points, 

respectively, below the adoption rate for all households. These and other 

demographic groups, including those with less than a high school 

education, African Americans, and those with a disability, showed similar 

increases while still falling behind households overall, as shown in figure 

1.

16The 95 percent confidence interval for the 2013 estimate is 72.7 to 73.7 percent, and the 

associated 95 percent confidence interval for the 2009 estimate is 63.5 to 64.4 percent. 

These estimates are from the Computer and Internet Use supplement sponsored by NTIA, 

a supplement to the Current Population Survey, a national survey administered by the 

U.S. Census Bureau. For the purposes of the survey, respondents are identified as having 

broadband if they respond that their Internet service is provided by means other than a 

dial-up connection, such as cable or fiber. This is in contrast to data from FCC on the 

availability of advanced telecommunications capability, which are based on upload and 

download speed data submitted by service providers. The estimates derived from Current 

Population Survey data that are presented in this section are based upon the responses of 

the household member who answered the survey.

17The 95 percent confidence interval associated with the 2009 estimate is 39.1 to 41.1 

percent, and the 95 percent confidence interval associated with the 2013 estimate is 53.2 

to 55.4 percent. 

18The 95 percent confidence interval associated with the 2009 estimate is 47.0 to 50.0 

percent, and the 95 percent confidence interval associated with the 2013 estimate is 59.7 

to 63.0 percent. 

Trends in Household 

Broadband Adoption
Page 7 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Figure 1: Household Broadband Adoption among Demographic Groups with Adoption Rates below That of All Households, 

2009 and 2013

Note: The Census Current Population Survey asks the respondent if anyone in the household uses 

the Internet from home and then asks through which types of service the Internet is accessed. 

Respondents who say they use dial-up are not counted as having broadband. Respondents who 

indicate they access the Internet through DSL, cable modem, fiber-optic service, mobile broadband 

plan, satellite, or some other service are counted as a household with broadband. The household 

broadband adoption percentages we present are estimates calculated with intervals of 95 percent 

confidence. They have a sampling error of no larger than plus or minus 2.6 percentage points at the 

95 percent level of confidence. Where we have drawn comparisons between groups or years to show 

differences, those differences are statistically significant and the confidence intervals do not overlap, 

except in the 2013 comparison between all households (95 percent confidence interval of 72.70 to 

73.69 percent) and unemployed (95 percent confidence interval of 68.36 to 73.58 percent). About 1.6 

percent of household respondents indicated they were more than one race; we have included these 

householders under multiple demographic race categories. Starting in 2010, Census changed the 

methodology for its income variable, including imputing household values that had been missing in 

prior years to provide values without missing observations.
Page 8 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

There are also some differences in broadband adoption geographically. 

For example, nonmetropolitan households’ 2013 estimated adoption rate 

of 63 percent is 12 percentage points less than the estimated 75 percent 

adoption rate of metropolitan areas.19 Broadband adoption in the states 

also varies. According to U.S. Census’s American Community Survey 

data, it is estimated that broadband adoption in Alabama, Arkansas, 

Mississippi, New Mexico, and Puerto Rico was nearly 10 percentage 

points lower than the national average in 2013.20 See appendix II for more 

information on broadband adoption trends.

Adopting broadband at home—as opposed to through mobile devices—

can provide a number of benefits, including access to job opportunities, 

education, and services for economic and social gain.21

• Employment opportunities: Broadband provides a mechanism to 

search and apply for jobs. Many employers now require applications 

to be completed online, including the federal government. In 2011, 

FCC noted that over 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies require 

Although mobile 

devices are becoming more advanced, stakeholders told us that certain 

benefits are not as easily accessible through mobile devices. For 

example, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to use a mobile device to 

develop and submit a resume along with a job application. Additionally, 

some benefits may also be accessed through broadband connections in 

public places, such as libraries. However, such access also has 

limitations, such as time limits. As stated in the National Broadband Plan, 

not adopting broadband limits individuals’ ability to fully participate in 

digital information and services. The literature we reviewed and 

stakeholders we interviewed identified a variety of benefits:

 19The 95 percent confidence interval for the 2013 nonmetropolitan rate is 61.5 to 64.0 

percent, and for the 2013 metropolitan rate it is 74.6 to 75.7 percent.

20According to the U.S. Census, the state-level adoption rates have margins of error no 

greater than plus or minus 0.8 percentage points at the 90 percent confidence interval, 

and the national average has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.1 percentage points at 

the 90 percent level of confidence.

21By “home” broadband, we are referring to broadband service to a home that residents 

can use with desktop or laptop computers, which is generally provided by wired means 

such as cable or fiber. This is in contrast to mobile broadband that is accessed by mobile 

devices (smartphones, tablets) through wireless means. Our scope in discussing 

broadband benefits is concerned primarily with those related to adoption at home.

Home Broadband 

Offers a Variety of 

Economic and

Other Benefits
Page 9 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

applicants to apply for employment on the Internet.22

• Educational enrichment: Broadband provides an opportunity for webbased learning, for example to complete college requirements or job 

training and for school-age children to use the Internet for research 

and classroom assignments. NTIA’s BTOP evaluation contractor 

noted in its study design document that prior research shows using 

computers and broadband can be a significant factor in boosting math 

and reading achievement as well as motivating students and enriching 

school content, ultimately improving students’ achievement.

Telecommuting 

has also allowed many government and private sector employees 

(e.g., including individuals with disabilities) to use broadband to work 

at home.

23

• Healthcare: Broadband provides consumers the ability to research 

health issues, obtain and share their personal health information with 

third parties, and to communicate with doctors, including specialists 

who may work in a different city. For example, in 2010, we found that 

through remote access, telemedicine24 can allow rural patients to 

receive medical diagnosis or patient care, including from specialists 

who are located elsewhere.25

• Social communication and networking: Broadband provides a 

mechanism for people to communicate with friends, family members, 

and organizations. For example, it provides an opportunity for older 

adults who may be socially isolated to participate in social dialogue 

about current events and issues.

• Government services: Broadband provides an opportunity to obtain 

information about and apply for most government entitlement benefits, 

such as social security, and to complete tasks such as tax filing.

 22FCC, FCC and Connect to Compete Tackle Broadband Adoption Challenge, Oct. 13, 

2011.

23ASR Analytics, Study Design Deliverables A-B: Broadband Technology Opportunities 

Program Evaluation Study (Potomac, Md.: Revised Jan. 30, 2012).

24Telemedicine includes telehealth, which is the use of medical information exchanged 

from one site to another via electronic communications (such as video or email) to 

improve a patient’s clinical health status. Telehealth can include telemental health, which 

is the provision of mental health services to patients living in remote locations or otherwise 

underserved area.

25GAO, Telecommunications: FCC’s Performance Management Weaknesses Could 

Jeopardize Proposed Reforms of the Rural Health Care Program, GAO-11-27

(Washington, D.C.: Nov.17, 2010).
Page 10 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

• Electronic commerce: Broadband allows online sales transactions. 

Consumer studies and stakeholders we interviewed reported that the 

Internet has become an important part of the U.S. economy. This is 

also reflected in our prior work. In 2014, we found that electronic

commerce provides opportunities for local residents to shop online 

rather than at brick-and-mortar establishments.26

• News and civic engagement: Broadband provides a variety of sources 

for national and local news. In 2013, Pew Research Center reported 

that 82 percent of Americans said they accessed news with a desktop 

or laptop computer.

Shopping online 

also enables comparing prices and searching for price discounts, thus 

lowering the price paid for goods and services.

27

• Entertainment: Broadband provides the ability to access games, 

movies, music, books, and other forms of entertainment. For example, 

movies can be streamed and watched from a computer or television.

Broadband can also enhance household 

participation in various government activities that will promote 

interaction between citizens and their governments.

Additional benefits may emerge as more information and services 

become available through broadband. The National Broadband Plan

noted that many uncertainties will shape the evolution of broadband, 

including the behavior of consumers, private companies, the economic 

environment, and technological advances.

 26GAO, Telecommunications: USDA Should Evaluate the Performance of the Rural 

Broadband Loan Program, GAO-14-471 (Washington, D.C.: May 22, 2014), and GAO, 

U.S. Postal Service: Urgent Action Needed to Achieve Financial Sustainability, 

GAO-13-562T (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 17, 2013).

27Pew Research Center, Key Indicators in Media & News, State of the News Media 2014 

(Mar. 26, 2014), accessed April 24, 2015, http://www.journalism.org/2014/03/26/state-ofthe-news-media-2014-key-indicators-in-media-and-news/.
Page 11 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

In 2010, FCC’s National Broadband Plan identified affordability, perceived 

relevance, lack of computer skills, and the availability of broadband 

service as the four principal barriers to broadband adoption.28

• Affordability: All 21 stakeholders we interviewed identified affordability 

issues, such as the cost of a subscription for Internet service and 

computer equipment, as barriers to broadband adoption. While 

stakeholders told us that it is difficult to find data on broadband 

subscription costs, affordability was the most frequently identified 

barrier in the literature and among the stakeholders we interviewed.

Our more 

recent literature review and interviews with stakeholders including FCC 

and NTIA officials, researchers, industry associations and companies, 

and consumer groups showed that three of these barriers persist:

29

• Perceived relevance: Almost all of the stakeholders we spoke to told 

us that the perception that broadband does not provide enough utility, 

 28National Broadband Plan. Additionally, the plan identified accessibility for people with 

disabilities as a cross-cutting issue.

29Some stakeholders told us that broadband subscription cost data are difficult to obtain 

for reasons such as reluctance from broadband providers to share such information and 

carriers’ bundling practices that make it difficult to separate broadband costs from the 

costs of other bundled services, such as telephone and video services. In 2011, FCC 

sought comment on whether it should collect price data from broadband providers, but this 

issue remains open for consideration. See In the Matter of Modernizing the FCC Form 477 

Data Program, Report and Order, ¶ 13, 28 FCC Rcd. 9887 (2013).

Affordability, 

Perceived Relevance, 

and Lack of 

Computer Skills Are 

Identified Broadband 

Adoption Barriers, 

Which Discounts, 

Outreach, and 

Training Have Sought 

to Address

Affordability, Perceived 

Relevance, and Lack of 

Computer Skills Are 

Identified Broadband 

Adoption Barriers
Page 12 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

relative to its cost, acts as a barrier to broadband adoption. A 2013 

NTIA report noted this was the most-cited reason households had not 

adopted broadband.30

• Lack of computer skills. A majority of the literature we reviewed and 

the stakeholders we interviewed told us that lack of computer and 

Internet skills is a barrier to broadband adoption. Stakeholders we 

interviewed said that this is a particular problem for certain 

demographic segments that may lack exposure to or knowledge about 

computers, such as those of age 65 and older and those with low 

levels of income and education.

While some individuals may not benefit from 

broadband adoption, the literature we reviewed and stakeholders we 

interviewed told us that many people who have not adopted 

broadband are not aware of its benefits. Other underlying factors may 

affect the perception of relevance. For example, NTIA officials and 

other stakeholders said that some people who say that they do not 

consider broadband to be relevant may in fact be unable to afford it or 

lack the computer skills necessary to use it.

The literature we reviewed and stakeholders we spoke to said that the 

barrier of availability—the inability to access broadband because it is not 

offered in a given area by a provider—has been addressed throughout 

most of the country, but remains an issue primarily for rural areas. 

Depending on what speed metric is used, FCC’s broadband availability 

data show that broadband was available to all but 4 to 17 percent of the 

 30NTIA and Economics and Statistics Administration, Exploring the Digital Nation: 

America’s Emerging Online Experience (June 2013). Using data from the 2011 U.S. 

Census Current Population Survey, NTIA reported estimates that 48 percent of 

households cited “don’t need it” or “not interested” as the main reason for not using the 

Internet at home, followed by 28 percent that said “too expensive” and 13 percent that 

said they had “no computer” or “no adequate computer.”
Page 13 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

population in 2013.31

Various types of stakeholders we interviewed also identified other barriers 

to broadband adoption in addition to those identified in the National 

Broadband Plan, although with less frequency:

These data also show some geographic variation in 

the availability of broadband, specifically that broadband was unavailable 

to 20 to 53 percent of the rural population, as well as 17 to 63 percent of 

Americans living on tribal lands.

• Language: Six stakeholders told us that language issues—either lack 

of English fluency among some immigrants or illiteracy among some 

low-income households—are barriers.

• Data security concerns: Three of the 21 stakeholders we spoke with 

identified data security concerns such as privacy and identity theft as 

a barrier to broadband adoption.

• Accessibility for people with disabilities: NTIA and FCC, as well as 2 

of the 21 stakeholders we interviewed identified accessibility as an 

issue for people with disabilities, such as those who are blind, deaf, or 

hard of hearing.

Our review of projects funded by NTIA’s BTOP, other FCC and NTIA 

efforts, efforts by the private sector and nonprofit organizations, and 

interviews with stakeholders identified three primary approaches that 

have been used to address broadband adoption barriers:

 31See 2015 Broadband Progress Report, at Table 7. FCC is required by statute to 

determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all 

Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, which is based, in part, on capacity or 

speed. 47 U.S.C. § 1302(b), (d)(1). In 2015, FCC increased the minimum speed 

benchmark to download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload 

speeds of at least 3 Mbps. Prior to this change, the minimum speed benchmark was at 

least 4 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps for uploads (although FCC’s data used proxies of 

3 Mbps for downloads and 768 kilobits per seconds for uploads). See 2015 Broadband 

Progress Report at para. 3. We’re presenting a range of numbers to reflect broadband 

availability at both of these speed benchmarks. As previously stated, consumers are often 

not aware of their Internet speed. See Inquiry Concerning the Deployment of Advanced 

Telecommunications Capability to All Americans in a Reasonable and Timely Fashion, 

and Possible Steps to Accelerate Such Deployment Pursuant to Section 706 of the 

Telecommunications Act of 1996, as Amended by the Broadband Data Improvement Act,

27 FCC Rcd. 10343 (2012) (Eighth Broadband Progress Report).

Approaches to Address 

Broadband Adoption 

Barriers Include

Discounts, Outreach,

and Training
Page 14 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

• Free or discounted equipment and broadband service: Broadband 

adoption efforts may provide computer equipment or broadband 

service at reduced or no cost. This approach addresses the barrier of 

affordability.

• Public outreach: Outreach campaigns seek to promote broadband 

adoption programs or improve awareness of broadband and its 

benefits. Outreach efforts may include partnering with community 

organizations, which representatives of some BTOP projects told us 

was an effective way to address issues of trust and relevance among 

lower-income populations that are sometimes suspicious of such 

outreach. This approach addresses the barrier of relevance.

• Training (computer or Internet use): Training may focus on basic 

computer skills such as operating a computer, using e-mail, and 

navigating the Internet, or more advanced and specialized skills. This 

approach addresses the barrier of the lack of computer skills.

Table 1 shows examples of efforts under these three primary approaches.

Table 1: Examples of Efforts to Address Barriers to Broadband Adoption

Approach Example efforts

Free or discounted 

equipment or 

broadband service

• The Tampa Housing Authority, a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grantee, 

provided subsidized computer equipment and broadband service in public-housing units.

• Comcast’s Internet Essentials and CenturyLink’s Internet Basics are programs that offer 

discounted broadband service and computer equipment to qualified low-income households.

Public outreach • EveryoneOn and Connected Nation are technology organizations that work to establish 

partnerships with Internet service providers or state or local governments. Such partnerships 

promote the benefits of broadband adoption or provide discounted broadband service to lowincome families.

• Using BTOP funds, the California Emerging Technology Fund conducted a public awareness 

campaign promoting the benefits of broadband adoption in multiple languages.

Training (computer 

or Internet use)

• The Mexican Institute of Greater Houston, a BTOP grantee, offered classroom instruction for adults 

on basic computer literacy in English and Spanish.

• The City and County of San Francisco used its BTOP grant to partner with media-focused nonprofit organizations to establish computer centers in city schools that offered digital media training 

to students.

Source: GAO analysis of BTOP projects and interviews with stakeholders. | GAO-15-473

Note: These are examples of efforts that align with the various approaches; organizations cited may 

also have other broadband adoption efforts that align with other approaches.

We identified efforts incorporating these approaches that generally 

targeted specific demographic groups. The majority of federal efforts we 

examined were projects that received grants through NTIA’s BTOP 

program, which was funded through the Recovery Act, but do not receive 
Page 15 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

federal funds on an ongoing basis. Additionally, both NTIA and FCC had 

some additional efforts. We examined the following efforts:32

• BTOP broadband adoption projects: As previously discussed, NTIA 

funded these 44 projects through a grant program established by the 

Recovery Act. These projects were implemented in various states and 

targeted multiple demographic groups. Grantees included state and 

city government agencies, universities, public-private partnerships, 

schools, libraries, and nonprofit organizations. BTOP grantees 

frequently used combinations of the three approaches to addressing 

barriers to broadband adoption described above. For example, 

Connected Tennessee partnered with a Tennessee state agency to 

distribute laptop computers to children leaving the foster care system. 

Connected Tennessee also partnered with a youth services 

organization to establish computer centers offering training to 

children. Although most of the BTOP funds have been spent, some 

projects have continued with other sources of funding.33

• Digitalliteracy.gov: NTIA operates a website to provide resources for 

teaching computer and Internet skills, as well as tools to aid in finding 

job opportunities and career training services.

For example, 

the Mexican Institute of Greater Houston has continued to operate its 

computer-training classes with funding from Houston-area donors.

• FCC’s Lifeline broadband pilot: FCC pilot tested ways to provide 

subsidized broadband service through its Lifeline program, which 

provides subsidies to telecommunications providers to offer 

discounted telephone service to low-income households. We 

examined this program in a recent report.34

• FCC’s National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program: This 

program provides $10 million annually for the local distribution of 

 32Our review is meant to illustrate these various approaches and is not comprehensive of 

all efforts to address broadband adoption barriers in the United States.

33According to NTIA’s November 2014 quarterly report to Congress on BTOP, recipients 

of BTOP grants—both the Sustainable Broadband Adoption grant and the Public 

Computing Centers grant—had spent 99 percent of their available grant funding as of 

June 30, 2014. The report also states that 40 of the 44 broadband adoption grantees had 

closed out their projects with the remainder nearing completion. NTIA, Broadband 

Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) Quarterly Program Status Report (November 

2014).

34GAO-15-335.
Page 16 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

accessible communications equipment for use with broadband 

services (as well as other telecommunications services) to low-income 

individuals who are deaf and blind.

• Other outreach efforts by NTIA and FCC: These agencies have 

conducted other outreach efforts, such as using public-private 

partnerships to promote broadband adoption. They have also held 

meetings, workshops, and conferences dedicated to promoting 

broadband adoption. These outreach efforts generally target specific 

demographic groups. For example, FCC officials told us they have 

participated in events intended to increase broadband use among 

older adults, including events hosted by AARP. FCC also noted taking 

a number of actions to address coordination with Tribal Nations, 

including creating an Office of Native Affairs and Policy in response to 

a National Broadband Plan recommendation to ensure effective

coordination and consultation with tribes on broadband-related 

issues.35

• Broadband provider discounts: Some Internet service providers offer 

reduced-price broadband service to qualifying lower-income families. 

For example, the two companies we met with offer monthly service for 

about $10 to families with children enrolled in federally subsidized 

school lunch programs. Such discounts may be supplemented with 

other approaches to encourage adoption, such as training on how to 

use the Internet.

According to NTIA officials, upcoming outreach efforts 

include providing technical assistance to at least 175 communities in 

implementing or expanding broadband availability and adoption 

programs.

• Technology organizations: These organizations work to establish 

partnerships with Internet service providers, state and local 

government agencies, and other organizations. These partnerships 

encourage broadband adoption through efforts such as promoting the 

benefits of broadband and helping low-income households obtain 

discounted Internet subscriptions. They may also engage in other 

efforts, such as helping individuals find free computer skills training in 

their area or providing computer equipment to low-income 

populations.

 35We recently initiated work examining access to telecommunications services, including 

broadband, on tribal lands; we expect to have the results of this work available in 

December 2015. Therefore, we did not include broadband issues on tribal lands within the 

scope of this report.
Page 17 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

NTIA has collected and disseminated information about the practices 

used by the projects funded by its BTOP grant program to address 

barriers to broadband adoption. NTIA officials told us they intentionally 

selected a diverse group of 44 projects to receive BTOP funding in order 

to discover best practices for encouraging broadband adoption. Grantees 

provided this information on their practices to NTIA as part of their 

required progress reporting,36 and NTIA also contracted with a third-party, 

ASR Analytics, to conduct a program evaluation of the BTOP program as 

a whole and report its results.37

 36The Recovery Act required BTOP funding recipients to report quarterly on their use of 

funds and NTIA to make these reports available to the public. See Pub. L. No. 111-5, div. 

B, tit. VI, § 6001(i)(1) (2009). NTIA also required that funding recipients report quarterly on 

their broadband equipment purchases and progress made in achieving goals, objectives, 

and milestones identified in the recipient’s application. In addition, BTOP broadband 

adoption grantees had to report a variety of project-specific information, including the 

number of new household broadband subscriptions as a result of the program. 74 Fed. 

Reg. 33104, 33125 (July 9, 2009).

NTIA compiled grantee-reported best 

37A program evaluation is a systematic study using research methods to collect and 

analyze data to assess how well a program is working and why. Evaluations answer 

specific questions about program performance and may focus on assessing program 

operations or results. Evaluation results may be used to assess a program’s effectiveness, 

identify how to improve performance, or guide resource allocation. See GAO-12-208G.

NTIA Identified

Best Practices for 

Broadband Adoption, 

but NTIA and FCC 

Have Not Fully 

Assessed the 

Effectiveness nor 

Clearly Articulated 

Intended Outcomes 

of Their Broadband 

Adoption Efforts

NTIA Identified Best 

Practices of BTOP 

Projects, but Evaluation of 

the Effectiveness of NTIA’s 

and FCC’s Efforts Is 

Limited
Page 18 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

practices and published them as a broadband adoption toolkit in 2013.38

The practices represent a variety of strategies to address broadband 

adoption barriers that align with the three approaches we described 

earlier in this report, such as strategies for reaching out to different 

demographic groups and providing various types of computer and 

Internet training. NTIA also monitored the projects’ progress against their 

stated goals, including the number of new broadband subscribers as a 

result of the project and the status of efforts such as outreach and training 

programs. NTIA’s evaluation contractor, ASR Analytics, submitted its 

evaluation report to NTIA in September 2014, and NTIA later made the 

report available on its website.39

While NTIA’s and ASR’s reports summarize BTOP project practices, 

neither evaluated these practices to examine their effectiveness at 

addressing broadband adoption barriers. NTIA’s toolkit links grantees’

identified best practices to specific populations and adoption barriers they 

are meant to address; however, NTIA officials said they did not develop 

criteria for assessing the success of these practices in getting new 

broadband subscribers. Additionally, the focus of the ASR evaluation was 

to identify social and economic outcomes, not which approaches for 

addressing broadband adoption barriers were the most effective. NTIA 

officials told us they have not evaluated the effectiveness of their other 

broadband adoption efforts—the digital literacy website and their ongoing 

outreach efforts. NTIA officials said that evaluating their efforts to address 

broadband adoption barriers is challenging and potentially expensive, and 

therefore the agency has not pursued doing so. They also said that 

assessing the impact of these projects on broadband adoption is difficult 

given the external social factors that also affect broadband adoption. 

Further, the officials told us that the motives for why people do or do not 

adopt broadband are well understood.

The report includes a section on best 

practices similar to the information in NTIA’s toolkit, such as best 

practices for outreach and communication, instruction, and ways to 

leverage and sustain community partnerships.

 38NTIA, Broadband Adoption Toolkit (May 2013), accessed February 10, 2015, 

http://www2.ntia.doc.gov/files/toolkit_042913.pdf.

39ASR Analytics, Final Report: Social and Economic Impacts of the Broadband 

Technology Opportunities Program (Potomac, Md.: Submitted Sept. 15, 2014), accessed 

February 11, 2015, http://www2.ntia.doc.gov/files/asr_final_report.pdf.
Page 19 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Some BTOP grantees had third-parties evaluate their broadband 

adoption projects. Specifically, among the 15 projects we examined, 3 

were evaluated by third parties seeking to identify the effectiveness of 

their approaches for addressing adoption barriers.40

FCC plans to evaluate its Lifeline broadband pilot, but FCC officials told 

us they have not evaluated the effectiveness of the commission’s other 

efforts to address broadband adoption barriers. Our March 2015 report 

examining the Lifeline program found weaknesses in FCC’s ability to 

effectively evaluate the program. Specifically, we found that the 

usefulness of information FCC gathered through the broadband pilot 

program may be limited due to a lack of an evaluation plan and other 

challenges.

These evaluations 

took different forms. For example, a team of academics evaluated the 

effectiveness of the Chicago Smart Communities initiative by comparing 

broadband adoption data in communities where the project operated to 

similar communities where it did not. The evaluation found that 

broadband adoption was significantly higher in neighborhoods where the 

program was active than in similar neighborhoods where it was not. 

Researchers suggested that participants’ increased experience using the 

Internet and the introduction of low-cost offerings from a broadband 

provider were possible explanations for the increase despite the 

program’s not offering discounted service.

41

Program evaluation is a useful tool for understanding the performance of 

government programs. It can be used to systematically determine the 

“value added” by the expenditure of public resources. Specifically, 

program evaluation can validate which approaches are effective, measure 

results that are difficult or expensive to assess, and explore why 

Similar to what NTIA officials told us, FCC officials said that 

evaluating the impact of their efforts to address broadband adoption 

barriers would be complex and potentially expensive.

 40Additionally, one project did its own program evaluation. Some of the evaluation work 

associated with the BTOP projects was focused on outcomes other than broadband 

adoption, such as improved computer literacy and job prospects.

41GAO-15-335. We did not recommend changes to the broadband pilot to address this 

issue because the pilot’s projects were substantially complete. Our report did recommend 

that FCC conduct a program evaluation to determine the extent to which the Lifeline 

program is reaching its performance goals. In comments on the report, FCC agreed that it 

should evaluate the extent to which the Lifeline program is efficiently and effectively 

reaching its performance goals and said that FCC staff will address GAO’s 

recommendation.
Page 20 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

performance goals are not met.42 Our prior work has shown that program 

evaluation can help agencies determine their program performance, 

assess program effectiveness, and contribute to improving program 

management.43

As we discussed earlier, FCC and NTIA have undertaken a number of 

initiatives aimed at addressing the barriers to broadband adoption, but 

since evaluation of these efforts has been limited, the agencies have 

limited information about which approaches are the most effective. For 

example, the BTOP project practices NTIA identified may hold promise 

for addressing broadband adoption barriers, but it is unclear how effective 

those practices are. Out of the 43 BTOP broadband adoption projects that 

were completed, more than half did not meet their goals for the number of 

new household broadband subscribers.

The National Broadband Plan discussed the need for 

program evaluation of broadband adoption programs, stating that such 

studies are necessary for understanding costs, benefits, and efficiency of 

different adoption programs, without which the country has a limited 

understanding of which approaches work.

44

 42

Further, among the 24 BTOP 

broadband adoption grantees NTIA included in its toolkit of promising 

strategies, 12 did not meet their subscriber goals. While other factors may 

have contributed to these projects not meeting these goals, without more 

rigorous evaluation, the ability to determine whether the approaches did 

or did not work well or if other factors contributed to their not meeting 

these goals is limited. Furthermore, it is not clear in which areas the 

agencies should dedicate scarce federal resources to have the greatest 

impact in addressing barriers to broadband adoption. Because NTIA’s 

major broadband adoption effort—BTOP—is substantially complete, and 

FCC ended the subsidy for the Lifeline broadband pilot in October 2014, 

GAO-12-208G.

43GAO, Program Evaluation: Studies Helped Agencies Measure or Explain Program 

Performance, GAO/GGD-00-204 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 29, 2000) and Program 

Evaluation: Strategies to Facilitate Agencies’ Use of Evaluation in Program Management 

and Policy Making, GAO-13-570 (Washington, D.C.: June 26, 2013).

44BTOP broadband adoption grant applicants stated in their grant applications how many 

new broadband household or business subscribers they estimated would result from their 

efforts. NTIA officials told us they consulted with projects that received grants and, in 

some cases, adjusted these goals. The projects we state did not meet their household 

subscriber goals are those that met neither their initial nor adjusted goals for households. 

Of the 43 completed projects, 15 met their adjusted goals, including 5 that reported twice 

as many or more subscribers than their adjusted goal. Of the 27 projects that did not meet 

their goals, 8 of the projects met at least 75 percent of their goal.
Page 21 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

the agencies missed opportunities to incorporate program evaluation into 

the design of their broadband adoption efforts in order to assess the 

effectiveness of these efforts in addressing barriers to broadband 

adoption.

FCC and NTIA both have ongoing efforts to address broadband adoption 

barriers, but it is unclear what outcomes they intend to achieve with these 

efforts because FCC’s strategic plan and NTIA’s performance plan do not 

clearly communicate the agencies’ desired outcomes for their efforts to 

address broadband adoption barriers. Communicating what an agency 

intends to achieve and its progress in doing so are fundamental aims of 

performance management. Under the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, 

an agency is to clearly communicate the intended outcomes of its efforts 

with a strategic plan and annual performance plans. Specifically, the 

GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 requires an agency to have:

1. A strategic plan containing outcome-oriented goals for major functions 

and operations and a description of how goals are to be achieved.

2. An annual performance plan consistent with the strategic plan with 

quantifiable, measurable performance goals to define the level of 

performance to be achieved during the year and performance 

indicators to assess progress toward each performance goal.

The National Broadband Plan made recommendations to FCC and NTIA 

for actions to address broadband adoption barriers. While officials from 

both agencies told us they have taken steps consistent with 

recommendations in the plan, they indicated that the plan is not the basis 

of their ongoing strategies. FCC officials told us that the commission has 

taken steps to implement actions consistent with a number of the plan’s 

recommendations. However, they also said that the National Broadband 

Plan was intended to be an evolving document and that FCC continues to 

evaluate the relevance of its recommendations as technologies, markets, 

and consumer needs and behaviors change. NTIA officials told us that 

their agency provided input for the National Broadband Plan based on 

activities already underway within the agency. Specifically, NTIA officials 

told us that the initial steps to implement BTOP were taken in 2009 before 

publication of the plan in early 2010. Thus, officials told us that NTIA’s

efforts in this area were guided more by perceived needs than the 

National Broadband Plan. Further, NTIA officials told us that no funding 

was made available for the agency to implement recommendations in the 

plan.

FCC’s Strategic Plan and 

NTIA’s Performance Plan 

Do Not Clearly Convey 

Quantifiable Outcomes of 

the Agencies’ Efforts to 

Address Broadband 

Adoption Barriers
Page 22 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Nonetheless, both agencies remain involved in addressing broadband 

adoption barriers. Although some of their recent efforts have concluded, a 

number of FCC and NTIA efforts are ongoing, as we discussed earlier in 

this report. NTIA’s strategic plan makes it clear that addressing 

broadband adoption barriers is a major function of the agency. Broadband 

adoption is mentioned prominently and early in NTIA’s fiscal year 2016 

budget submission to Congress and in the description of the agency’s 

purpose on its website.45

• FCC: In 2015, FCC released an updated strategic plan for fiscal years 

2015−2018 with a strategic goal of “making networks work for 

everyone” including ensuring that “all Americans can take advantage 

of the services they provide without artificial impediments.” This goal 

has a supporting strategic objective to “maximize availability of 

broadband to all.” FCC’s prior strategic plan, covering fiscal years 

2014−2018, included a strategic objective to “maximize” broadband 

adoption and a related performance goal to “support and facilitate”

broadband adoption. Although the prior strategic plan made it clear 

that addressing broadband adoption was a priority of FCC, the revised 

plan’s focus on availability makes this unclear. As we discussed 

earlier in this report, while availability may be a barrier for some—

particularly in rural areas—other issues, such as affordability, 

relevance, and computer skills are the principal barriers to adoption 

that the literature we reviewed and stakeholders we spoke to 

identified. Further, the efforts FCC officials told us comprise their work 

to address broadband adoption barriers target populations affected by 

these three principal barriers, such as their efforts to help low-income 

households afford broadband services and equipment or promoting 

broadband to older individuals and those living on tribal lands. FCC 

officials told us that the new plan was designed to have fewer but 

broader strategic goals and that the goals and objectives of the new 

plan are meant to support broadband adoption by promoting the 

availability of broadband, ensuring schools and libraries have 

broadband access, and ensuring that Americans with disabilities can 

access broadband—activities that align in part but not completely with 

FCC includes updates on broadband adoption in 

its broadband progress reports. However, what outcomes can be 

expected with these efforts is unclear because FCC’s strategic plan and 

NTIA’s performance plan do not clearly communicate what they intend to 

achieve:

 45“About NTIA” at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/about (accessed Feb. 13, 2015).
Page 23 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

FCC’s work to address adoption barriers. The goals of an agency’s 

strategic plan are supposed to express intended outcomes and link to 

major agency functions consistent with the GPRA Modernization Act 

of 2010. With the changes in FCC’s strategic plan to focus on 

availability, rather than adoption, it is unclear whether broadband 

adoption is a major function and thus a current commission priority 

and what outcomes can be expected of FCC’s ongoing broadband 

adoption efforts.

• NTIA: The Department of Commerce’s 2014−2018 strategic plan 

includes a goal to foster a more innovative economy under which 

NTIA has a key strategy to increase broadband infrastructure and 

use, indicating that broadband adoption is an NTIA priority. However, 

now that BTOP has concluded, NTIA no longer has a quantifiable 

performance goal or measure that assesses outcomes consistent with 

the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. The Department of 

Commerce’s Budget in Brief for fiscal year 2016 states that NTIA will 

work to increase broadband adoption through technical assistance 

and includes the number of communities in which NTIA has provided 

technical assistance as a performance measure.46

 46The target for 2015 is 175 communities, and the target for 2016 is 250 communities.

Because this 

measure articulates an activity of the agency, rather than a result of 

an agency activity, it measures an output and not an outcome. 

According to NTIA officials, the agency’s broadband adoption goals 

reflect what the agency has been funded to do and beyond BTOP, the 

agency has received limited funding for broadband adoption efforts. 

NTIA’s performance plan used to include an outcome-oriented 

performance measure: the cumulative number of new broadband 

subscribers as a result of BTOP broadband adoption projects. 

However, the fiscal year 2016 budget states that this indicator has 

been retired as of fiscal year 2015 because NTIA has met its final 

target. NTIA officials also told us that is the case because BTOP has 

concluded. The budget request does seek funding for the outreach 

and other ongoing efforts we described earlier in this report, indicating 
Page 24 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

that NTIA does intend to move forward with other broadband adoption 

efforts.47

Without an outcome-oriented goal for increasing broadband adoption in 

its strategic plan, it is unclear whether this is still a priority for FCC, as 

well as what the commission intends to achieve with its ongoing 

broadband adoption efforts. Although NTIA’s strategic plan more clearly 

outlines broadband adoption as an agency priority, without goals or 

measures in its performance plan that point to outcomes, it is unclear 

what NTIA intends achieve with its post-BTOP broadband adoption efforts 

and how it will show progress in achieving its related goals.

The National Broadband Plan laid out a vision for why increasing 

broadband adoption is important and steps the federal government—

namely FCC and NTIA—could take to achieve that vision. In the ensuing 

years, adoption has increased, but a significant percentage of the 

population has still not adopted broadband, and non-adoption rates 

remain higher among populations such as low-income households and 

older Americans. The various ways that people use broadband for 

everyday social and economic purposes underscore that the benefits of 

broadband are substantial. Through BTOP, Lifeline, and other initiatives, 

NTIA and FCC have worked to address barriers to broadband, but the 

agencies’ current goals and the intended outcomes of their work are 

unclear. NTIA’s investment in BTOP broadband adoption projects in 

particular represented a significant effort to address these barriers, but 

with that program coming to an end, ongoing efforts to address these 

barriers are limited. For both of these agencies, key planning documents 

released in 2015 that are to clearly communicate intended outcomes 

have dropped or revised goals included in prior years’ plans related to the 

agencies’ efforts to address broadband adoption. Consequently, it is 

unclear that the agencies have a clear strategy for sustaining their efforts 

to increase broadband adoption, and the ability to tell whether these 

efforts will be successful is limited.

 47NTIA’s fiscal year 2016 budget request to Congress includes $13 million for broadband 

programs described as continuing the momentum of BTOP by providing technical 

assistance and outreach to communities and stakeholder groups to address issues 

including broadband adoption. This funding represents a significant reduction as 

compared to the about $25 million NTIA spent on broadband programs for fiscal year 

2013 when BTOP was fully active. 

Conclusions
Page 25 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

To more clearly establish the outcomes FCC intends to achieve through 

its efforts to address broadband adoption barriers faced by demographic 

groups with low levels of adoption, we recommend that FCC take the 

following action:

• revise its strategic plan to more clearly indicate whether addressing 

broadband adoption barriers is a major function, and if so, specify 

what outcomes the commission intends to achieve.

To more clearly communicate what NTIA hopes to achieve with its 

ongoing broadband adoption efforts and to demonstrate the agency’s 

progress, the Secretary of Commerce should take the following action:

• include in NTIA’s annual performance plan a quantifiable outcomebased performance goal and a related performance indicator for the 

agency’s broadband adoption efforts consistent with the strategic 

plan.

We provided a draft of this report to FCC and the Department of 

Commerce for comment. Neither agency specifically agreed or disagreed 

with our recommendations but provided comments as summarized below.

We received written comments from FCC, which are reproduced in 

appendix III. In response to our recommendation, FCC’s comments state 

that broadband adoption remains a significant focus for the commission. 

Further, FCC noted that in its revised strategic plan, it presented broader 

goals to achieve a more streamlined format but that its strategic 

objectives, performance goals, and two of the three strategies associated 

with the plan’s Strategic Goal 3: Making Networks Work for Everyone are 

also directed at promoting adoption. However, FCC states that to the 

extent that its strategic plan is unclear on the role of broadband adoption 

in FCC’s efforts, it is prepared to implement revisions that will help clarify 

this issue. With regard to quantifying expected outcomes of FCC’s efforts 

in this area, FCC notes that it intends to seek comments on this issue as 

part of a proposed rulemaking for the Lifeline program. Specifically, the 

response states that FCC has drafted a Further Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking seeking to refocus the program on “21st century services.” 

FCC stated this notice will seek comment on how to best consider 

specific outcomes related to addressing the barrier of affordability. FCC 

notes it has also hired a new staff person to lead an effort to address 

other broadband adoption barriers, including lack of computers or 

Recommendations

Agency Comments 

and Our Evaluation
Page 26 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

perceived relevance. FCC also provided technical comments, which we 

incorporated as appropriate.

We also received written comments from the Department of Commerce, 

which are reproduced in appendix IV. In response to our 

recommendation, the Department of Commerce states that it agrees that 

outcome-based performance tools are important in evaluating the 

success of an agency program. However, it also states that an outcomebased measure like the one it used for BTOP would not be an accurate 

measure of NTIA’s performance because the agency’s ongoing efforts to 

provide technical assistance to communities to support broadband 

adoption efforts are advisory and do not provide funding to communities. 

Additionally, Commerce states that the communities identify the goals of 

these efforts. Consequently, Commerce believes other variables unique 

to these communities are more appropriate for determining whether a 

community adopts broadband or not. Further, Commerce states that 

NTIA’s fiscal year 2015 budget allocated $3 million for its broadband 

initiative, but none of these funds are authorized to be used for grants to 

establish broadband adoption programs. However, Commerce states that 

it would seek to develop outcome-based measures if it received funding 

for broadband adoption grants.

Our prior work has stressed the importance of setting goals and 

measuring progress toward those goals. We have acknowledged that 

agencies sometimes face difficulties in developing and using outcome 

measures, such as accounting for factors that are outside of an agency’s 

control.48

 48GAO, Managing for Results: Executive Branch Should More Fully Implement the GPRA 

Modernization Act to Address Pressing Governance Challenges, 

 However, we have also found that outcome-oriented 

performance measures are important for helping agencies determine if 

their efforts are achieving their intended purpose. This includes grant 

programs, like BTOP, but other types of federal efforts also measure 

outcomes to demonstrate performance. NTIA has experience with 

measuring outcomes under challenging circumstances when it 

implemented its broadband adoption effort under BTOP, which consisted 

of over 40 projects in varying communities throughout the country. NTIA 

officials said that measuring broadband adoption was challenging and 

that grantees employed different methodologies to measure the number 

of new broadband subscriptions. NTIA officials said they worked with 

GAO-13-518

(Washington, D.C.: June 26, 2013).
Page 27 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

BTOP grantees to develop appropriate and consistent methodologies for 

measuring the performance of their projects. Given NTIA’s experience in 

working with BTOP grantees to develop ways to measure broadband 

adoption, we believe the agency could apply what it learned from that 

effort to assess outcomes for its ongoing broadband adoption efforts. As 

our report notes, without goals or measures in its performance plan that 

point to outcomes, it is unclear what NTIA intends achieve with its 

ongoing broadband adoption efforts and how it will show progress in 

achieving its related goals. Thus, we continue to believe that our 

recommendation has merit and should be fully implemented.

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional 

committees, the Chairman of the FCC, and the Secretary of Commerce. 

In addition, the report is available at no charge on the GAO website at 

http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff have any questions, please contact me at (202) 512-

2834 or goldsteinm@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of 

Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page 

of this report. GAO staff that made major contributions to this report are 

listed in appendix III.

Mark L. Goldstein

Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 28 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

This report examines (1) what is known about the benefits of home 

broadband adoption, (2) identified barriers to broadband adoption and 

approaches used to address them, and (3) the extent to which the 

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and National 

Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have 

assessed their effectiveness and set goals for addressing broadband 

adoption barriers.

To determine what is known about the benefits of home broadband 

adoption, we identified and reviewed academic, government, industry, 

trade press, and other association or nonprofit literature on broadband 

benefits. To identify this literature, we conducted searches of various 

databases such as ProQuest, Lexis.com, and PolicyFile. We included in 

our review additional reports we obtained from NTIA. We limited the 

scope of literature to focus on (1) broadband benefits specific to home 

broadband, as opposed to mobile broadband; (2) experience within the 

United States; and (3) articles from January 2009 to November 2014, a 

timeframe we chose because it represents recent years just before and 

since the 2010 publication of FCC’s National Broadband Plan. We also 

interviewed FCC and NTIA officials and 21 stakeholders—including 

researchers, consumer groups, industry associations and broadband 

providers, and technology organizations—about broadband benefits (see 

table 2 for a list of stakeholders interviewed). We identified these 

stakeholders as having broadband expertise based on our prior 

telecommunications work, their contributions to the National Broadband 

Plan and other broadband adoption literature, and recommendations from 

these stakeholders.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 29 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Table 2: Academic, Consumer, Industry, and Technology Stakeholders GAO Interviewed

Stakeholder type Name

Researchers John Horrigan, Pew Research Center

Blair Levin, Brookings Institute

Jason Llorenz, Rutgers University

Consumer organizations AARP

American Association of People with Disabilities

American Library Associationa

Common Causeb

Consumer Federation of America

Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council

National Hispanic Media Coalitionb

National Urban Leagueb

New America Foundation

Older Adults Technology Services

United Church of Christb

Industry organizations and companies CenturyLink

Comcast

National Cable and Telecommunications Association

NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association

US Telecom

Technology organizations Connected Nation

EveryoneOn

Source: GAO. | GAO-15-473

a

We have categorized the American Library Association as a consumer organization because the 

focus of our discussion was how broadband adoption barriers faced by consumers impact libraries.

b

We conducted an interview with these organizations jointly, the result of outreach to the National 

Consumer Law Center. Representatives from the National Consumer Law Center were unable to 

participate in the meeting.

For contextual purposes, we analyzed household broadband adoption

data from the U.S. Census Current Population Survey (CPS) for 2009 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 30 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

through 2013.1

To identify broadband adoption barriers, we identified and reviewed 

academic, government, industry and trade press, and other association or 

nonprofit literature published from January 2009 to November 2014. We 

also interviewed academic researchers, consumer groups, industry 

associations and companies, and FCC and NTIA officials about 

broadband adoption barriers (see previous table 2 for a list of 

stakeholders interviewed). To describe federal and nonfederal efforts to 

address broadband adoption barriers, we identified efforts by reviewing 

documentation and interviewing researchers, consumer groups, industry 

We used variables included in the survey for our 

household demographic estimates. Because the CPS uses a complex 

survey design, all estimates derived from CPS data have sampling error 

associated with them. We used the sample weights provided in the CPS 

data and accounted for the design of the survey in our estimation of the 

sampling error. We express our confidence in the precision of estimates 

as 95 percent confidence intervals (e.g., plus or minus 2 percentage 

points). This is the interval that would contain the actual population value 

for 95 percent of the CPS samples the Bureau of the Census could have 

drawn. For the various comparisons used in our analysis of the CPS data, 

we determined that two estimates were statistically significant when the 

95 percent confidence intervals around the two estimates did not overlap. 

To assess the reliability of these data, we reviewed how these data have 

been reported by Census and NTIA and discussed with Census and NTIA 

officials reasons for differences in how they have reported these data, any 

potential limitations with how we planned to use CPS data in our report, 

and trade-offs between using that and another Census product, the 

American Community Survey, which also includes questions about 

broadband adoption. We determined that these data were sufficiently 

reliable for the purposes of showing demographic differences and recent 

trends in household broadband adoption.

 1

These estimates come from the Computer and Internet Use Supplement of the Current 

Population Survey, a national household survey sponsored by NTIA and administered by 

the U.S. Census Bureau. For purposes of this survey, respondents are identified as 

having broadband if they respond that their Internet service is provided by means other 

than a dial-up connection, such as cable or fiber. The estimates derived from these survey 

data are based upon the responses of the household reference person—i.e., the person 

that answered the survey.
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 31 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

associations and companies, and FCC and NTIA officials.2 For additional 

information about potentially promising approaches to addressing 

broadband adoption barriers, we selected Broadband Technology 

Opportunities Program (BTOP) Sustainable Broadband Adoption grant 

projects that met their goals for new broadband subscribers as set in their 

grant applications, which was 15 of the 44 projects. For these projects, 

we reviewed projects’ reports submitted to NTIA about project outcomes, 

and, where available, third-party program evaluations that analyzed the 

effectiveness of their approaches to address broadband adoption 

barriers.3

Table 3: Selected BTOP Projects 

We interviewed representatives from the 14 grantees

responsible for administering these 15 BTOP projects, which are listed in 

table 3.

Grantee (state) Project(s)

C.K. Blandin Foundation (Minnesota) Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities

California Emerging Technologies Fund (California) Broadband Awareness and Adoption; Access to Careers and 

Technology

City and County of San Francisco (California) San Francisco Community Broadband Opportunities Program

City of Chicago (Illinois) SmartChicago Sustainable Broadband Adoption

Connect Arkansas (Arkansas) Expanding Broadband Use in Arkansas Through Education

Connect Tennessee (Tennessee) Computers 4 Kids: Preparing Tennessee’s Next Generation for 

Success

District of Columbia Government (District of Columbia) DC Broadband Education, Training and Adoption

Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (Michigan) Sparking Broadband Use in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Foundation for California Community Colleges (California) California Connects

Future Generations Graduate School (West Virginia) Equipping West Virginia’s Fire and Rescue Squads with 

Technology and Training to Serve Communities

Mexican Institute of Greater Houston (Texas) Sustainable Broadband Adoption through Training for Hispanic 

Adults

 2

Our review was not comprehensive of all efforts being taken to address broadband 

adoption barriers, since our purpose was to identify types of approaches used, not to 

catalog all efforts.

3

NTIA did not require BTOP projects to have program evaluations; however, some 

projects elected to do so. We determined which projects had third-party program 

evaluations and obtained copies of the resulting reports from either NTIA or the project 

grantees or through our own research. We reviewed these evaluations to determine which 

ones specifically examined the effectiveness of projects’ approaches for addressing 

broadband adoption barriers.
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 32 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Grantee (state) Project(s)

Michigan State University (Michigan) Broadband Adoption through Education and E-Entrepreneurship in 

Michigan’s Urban Cores

Tampa Housing Authority (Florida) AccessALL Tampa

The Urban Affairs Coalition (Pennsylvania) Freedom Rings: Sustainable Broadband Adoption

Source: GAO review of NTIA documents. | GAO-15-473

To determine the extent to which FCC and NTIA set goals and assessed 

their performance to address broadband adoption barriers, we reviewed 

the agencies’ most recent strategic plans and performance plans to 

identify their goals and performance measures related to broadband 

adoption. We reviewed documentation, including the design and final 

report, from NTIA’s program evaluation of BTOP. We also reviewed 

available third-party program evaluations done of the 15 BTOP projects 

listed previously in table 3.4 We interviewed FCC and NTIA officials about 

their efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of their broadband adoption 

efforts and about their strategic goals and performance measures for 

these efforts. We evaluated their efforts against our criteria for evaluating 

agency performance as established in our prior work and the GPRA 

Modernization Act of 2010.5

We conducted this performance audit from August 2014 to June 2015 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives.

 4

Since NTIA did not require BTOP grantees to have program evaluations of their BTOP 

projects, not every project we examined had an associated evaluation. We reviewed 

evaluation reports that we obtained from the grantees, NTIA, and our research.

5

The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-352, 124 Stat. 3866 (2011), 

amends provisions of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA),

Pub. L. No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (1993).
Appendix II: Data on Household Broadband 

Adoption Overall and by Demographic Groups, 

2009 and 2013

Page 33 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Figure 2: Household Broadband Adoption among Demographic Groups Sorted by Adoption Percentage, 2009 and 2013

Note: The Census Current Population Survey asks the respondent if anyone in the household uses 

the Internet from home and then asks through which types of service the Internet is accessed. 

Respondents who say they use dial-up are not counted as having broadband. Respondents who 

indicate they access the Internet through DSL, cable modem, fiber-optic service, mobile broadband 

plan, satellite, or some other service are counted as a household with broadband. The household 

Appendix II: Data on Household Broadband 

Adoption Overall and by Demographic 

Groups, 2009 and 2013
Appendix II: Data on Household Broadband 

Adoption Overall and by Demographic Groups, 

2009 and 2013

Page 34 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

broadband adoption percentages we present are estimates calculated with intervals of 95 percent 

confidence. They have a sampling error of no larger than plus or minus 2.6 percentage points at the 

95 percent level of confidence. Where we’ve drawn comparisons between groups or years to show 

differences, those differences are statistically significant and the confidence intervals do not overlap, 

except in the 2013 comparison between all households (95 percent confidence interval of 72.70 to 

73.69 percent) and unemployed (95 percent confidence interval of 68.36 to 73.58 percent). About 1.6 

percent of household respondents indicated they were more than one race; we have included these 

householders under multiple demographic race categories. Starting in 2010, Census changed the 

methodology for its income variable, including imputing household values that had been missing in 

prior years to provide values without missing observations.
Appendix II: Data on Household Broadband 

Adoption Overall and by Demographic Groups, 

2009 and 2013

Page 35 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Figure 3: Household Broadband Adoption among Demographic Groups Sorted by Demographics, 2009 and 2013

Note: The Census Current Population Survey asks the respondent if anyone in the household uses 

the Internet from home and then asks through which types of service the Internet is accessed. 

Respondents who say they use dial-up are not counted as having broadband. Respondents who 

indicate they access the Internet through DSL, cable modem, fiber-optic service, mobile broadband 

plan, satellite, or some other service are counted as a household with broadband. The household 
Appendix II: Data on Household Broadband 

Adoption Overall and by Demographic Groups, 

2009 and 2013

Page 36 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

broadband adoption percentages we present are estimates calculated with intervals of 95 percent 

confidence. They have a sampling error of no larger than plus or minus 2.6 percentage points at the 

95 percent level of confidence. Where we’ve drawn comparisons between groups or years to show 

differences, those differences are statistically significant and the confidence intervals do not overlap, 

except in the 2013 comparison between all households (95 percent confidence interval of 72.70 to 

73.69 percent) and unemployed (95 percent confidence interval of 68.36 to 73.58 percent). About 1.6 

percent of household respondents indicated they were more than one race; we have included these 

householders under multiple demographic race categories. Starting in 2010, Census changed the 

methodology for its income variable, including imputing household values that had been missing in 

prior years to provide values without missing observations.
Appendix III: Comments from the

Federal Communications Commission

Page 37 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Appendix III: Comments from the

Federal Communications Commission
Appendix III: Comments from the

Federal Communications Commission

Page 38 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption
Appendix III: Comments from the

Federal Communications Commission

Page 39 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department 

of Commerce

Page 40 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Appendix IV: Comments from the 

Department of Commerce
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department 

of Commerce

Page 41 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption
Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

Page 42 GAO-15-473 Broadband Adoption

Mark L. Goldstein, (202) 512-2834 or goldsteinm@gao.gov

In addition to the contact named above, Michael Clements (Assistant 

Director), Carl Barden, Namita Bhatia-Sabharwal, Melissa Bodeau, 

Elizabeth Curda, Leia Dickerson, Lauren Friedman, Adam Gomez, 

Andrew Huddleston, Bert Japikse, Joshua Ormond, Madhav Panwar, 

Cheryl Peterson, Kelly Rubin, and Larry Thomas made key contributions 

to this report.

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Staff 

Acknowledgments

(543347)
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