Government subsidies of retail broadband plans could be useful for increasing broadband penetration

Many governments believe that increasing the household penetration of fixed broadband is an important policy objective. As such, they may consider demand-side initiatives in which they subsidise end-user fixed broadband retail plans in order to increase subscriber take-up. Such initiatives aim to establish fixed broadband networks and governments, particularly as a result of the pandemic, consider fixed connectivity to provide cost and social benefits. In this article, we assess the attractiveness of government-funded subsidies of retail fixed broadband plans.