Internet Engagement in the Remote Work Era: Insights from High-Frequency Household-Level Data

Jacob Malone (), Zachary Nolan () and Haoran Zhang ()
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Jacob Malone: CableLabs
Zachary Nolan: University of Arizona
Haoran Zhang: Cornerstone Research

Review of Industrial Organization, 2025, vol. 66, issue 4, No 6, 525-561

Abstract: Abstract Widespread transitions to remote activities in the early 2020s led to a dramatic increase in residential internet usage. We document short-term and persistent trends in internet engagement during this period with the use of high-frequency household-level broadband data from a North American internet provider. In spring 2020, overall traffic surged, driven in part by expanded use of remote productivity applications. While demand for these applications remained elevated in subsequent years, the traditional drivers of residential broadband engagement– online video, web browsing, and social media– continued to dominate usage. We document trends in usage volumes, time spent online, and bitrates, and we explore how these patterns vary across demographic segments. Finally, we discuss the implications of these recent trends in internet engagement for ongoing policy debates– including broadband labeling, minimum speed standards, and efforts to narrow the digital divide.

Keywords: Internet Access; Digital Divide; COVID-19; Remote Work; Broadband Labels; Digitization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 D12 L86 L96 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11151-025-10016-2

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