{"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","dataset":"research-agenda","count":6,"updatedThrough":"2026-07-21","summary":{"decreasedCount":5,"domainCount":1,"entityCount":6,"increasedCount":1,"latestSourceAccessDate":"2026-07-21","methodCount":1,"questionCount":6,"requestCount":24,"sourceCount":2,"unchangedCount":0},"universeSummary":{"decreasedCount":26,"domainCount":5,"entityCount":32,"increasedCount":19,"latestSourceAccessDate":"2026-07-21","methodCount":7,"questionCount":46,"requestCount":184,"sourceCount":12,"unchangedCount":1},"guardrail":"Agenda questions are derived from published latest-to-prior competition signals and remain attached to their exact metric, periods, universe, and source custody. They are not ranked, scored, or treated as findings of causality, competitive harm, liability, enforcement merit, or research importance. Evidence requests describe work to collect, not evidence already established.","filters":{"direction":"all","directionMatched":true,"domain":"geographies","domainMatched":true,"method":"all","methodMatched":true,"query":"","question":null,"questionMatched":true,"view":"question","viewMatched":true,"scope":"slice","scopeMatched":true},"activeQuestionId":"fixed-broadband-hhi:tract-median","methods":[{"id":"market-mechanism","label":"Market mechanism","shortLabel":"Mechanism","detail":"Test entry, exit, switching, price, quality, capacity, and share pathways inside the declared market boundary.","metricIds":["market-hhi"],"color":"#12a8b5"},{"id":"share-accounting","label":"Share accounting","shortLabel":"Shares","detail":"Reconstruct participant-share movement while checking denominator, coverage, entry, exit, and transaction changes.","metricIds":["market-cr4","market-leader-share"],"color":"#1769e0"},{"id":"industry-disaggregation","label":"Industry disaggregation","shortLabel":"Industries","detail":"Trace a sector median back to strict six-digit Census rows before proposing a product or geographic market study.","metricIds":["industry-median-hhi"],"color":"#24a76f"},{"id":"geographic-structure","label":"Geographic structure","shortLabel":"Geography","detail":"Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.","metricIds":["state-bank-median-hhi","national-bank-deposit-hhi","fixed-broadband-hhi"],"color":"#0f766e"},{"id":"business-flow-context","label":"Business-flow context","shortLabel":"Business flows","detail":"Disaggregate national entry, exit, job-flow, and reallocation movement by sector, place, and firm age before proposing a competitive mechanism.","metricIds":["establishment-entry-rate","establishment-exit-rate","job-creation-rate","job-destruction-rate","net-job-creation-rate","reallocation-rate"],"color":"#6b5bd6"},{"id":"merger-program-context","label":"Merger program context","shortLabel":"Filings","detail":"Place HSR notification volume beside filing mix, transaction size, thresholds, exemptions, and macroeconomic context.","metricIds":["hsr-transactions"],"color":"#f39b22"},{"id":"review-process-context","label":"Review process context","shortLabel":"Review","detail":"Test whether transaction mix, clearance, adjusted denominators, or agency practice moved alongside the review rate.","metricIds":["hsr-second-request-rate"],"color":"#eb4a64"}],"rows":[{"id":"fixed-broadband-hhi:tract-median","ordinal":7,"question":"Which areas and provider-share changes account for movement in the tract median, and how wide is the distribution hidden by the median?","methodId":"geographic-structure","methodLabel":"Geographic structure","methodDetail":"Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.","evidenceRequests":["Area-level provider connection shares behind the national or median geographic HHI path.","Full state, county, or tract HHI distributions so movement in the median is not mistaken for a uniform shift.","Technology, speed-tier, entry, exit, acquisition, and subscriber-mix records for both annual anchors.","Local product, geographic, pricing, quality, switching, and availability evidence before treating a reporting area as an antitrust market."],"domain":"geographies","domainLabel":"Broadband geographies","entityId":"fixed-broadband-tract-median","entityCode":"tract-median","entityLabel":"Median census tract","metricId":"fixed-broadband-hhi","metricLabel":"Residential fixed broadband Tract median","unit":"hhi_points","priorPeriod":"Dec 2023","priorYear":2023,"priorValue":5859,"latestPeriod":"Dec 2024","latestYear":2024,"latestValue":5504,"yearsBetween":1,"delta":-355,"deltaPercent":-6.1,"direction":"decreased","observation":"Median census tract moved from HHI 5,859 in Dec 2023 to 5,504 in Dec 2024 (-355 HHI points).","interpretation":"The December 2024 tract median is lower than its December 2023 anchor. This geographic summary does not define a legal broadband market or identify why provider shares changed.","comparisonNote":"December 2024 versus December 2023 in the same FCC geographic summary. The intervening June release remains visible in the broadband atlas and is not used as the annual comparison anchor.","evidenceCount":9,"evidenceLabel":"9 FCC semiannual observations / Dec 2020-Dec 2024","confidenceLevel":"high","dataStatus":"verified","sourceCount":1,"sourceIds":["fcc-internet-access-dec-2024"],"publishers":["Federal Communications Commission"],"latestSourceAccessDate":"2026-07-21","agendaHref":"/research/agenda?question=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Atract-median#research-agenda-observatory","atlasHref":"/atlas?focus=question%3Afixed-broadband-hhi%3Atract-median&layer=research","researchProfileHref":"/research/agenda/fixed-broadband-hhi--tract-median","monitorHref":"/economy/monitor?signal=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Atract-median#competition-monitor-console","notebookHref":"/notebooks?recipe=fixed-broadband-concentration","briefingHref":"/research/briefing?signals=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Atract-median&audience=research#competition-briefing-studio","profileHref":"/geographies/broadband?scope=tract-median","explorerHref":"/geographies/broadband?scope=tract-median&period=2024-12#fixed-broadband-atlas","signalGuardrail":"The FCC series reports HHI for residential fixed connections of at least 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. The national value and medians across states, counties, and census tracts describe different geographic summaries; they are not interchangeable legal market definitions, and a median does not describe the full distribution within or across areas.","agendaGuardrail":"Agenda questions are derived from published latest-to-prior competition signals and remain attached to their exact metric, periods, universe, and source custody. They are not ranked, scored, or treated as findings of causality, competitive harm, liability, enforcement merit, or research importance. Evidence requests describe work to collect, not evidence already established."},{"id":"fixed-broadband-hhi:county-median","ordinal":8,"question":"Which areas and provider-share changes account for movement in the county median, and how wide is the distribution hidden by the median?","methodId":"geographic-structure","methodLabel":"Geographic structure","methodDetail":"Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.","evidenceRequests":["Area-level provider connection shares behind the national or median geographic HHI path.","Full state, county, or tract HHI distributions so movement in the median is not mistaken for a uniform shift.","Technology, speed-tier, entry, exit, acquisition, and subscriber-mix records for both annual anchors.","Local product, geographic, pricing, quality, switching, and availability evidence before treating a reporting area as an antitrust market."],"domain":"geographies","domainLabel":"Broadband geographies","entityId":"fixed-broadband-county-median","entityCode":"county-median","entityLabel":"Median county","metricId":"fixed-broadband-hhi","metricLabel":"Residential fixed broadband County median","unit":"hhi_points","priorPeriod":"Dec 2023","priorYear":2023,"priorValue":5356,"latestPeriod":"Dec 2024","latestYear":2024,"latestValue":4599,"yearsBetween":1,"delta":-757,"deltaPercent":-14.1,"direction":"decreased","observation":"Median county moved from HHI 5,356 in Dec 2023 to 4,599 in Dec 2024 (-757 HHI points).","interpretation":"The December 2024 county median is lower than its December 2023 anchor. This geographic summary does not define a legal broadband market or identify why provider shares changed.","comparisonNote":"December 2024 versus December 2023 in the same FCC geographic summary. The intervening June release remains visible in the broadband atlas and is not used as the annual comparison anchor.","evidenceCount":9,"evidenceLabel":"9 FCC semiannual observations / Dec 2020-Dec 2024","confidenceLevel":"high","dataStatus":"verified","sourceCount":1,"sourceIds":["fcc-internet-access-dec-2024"],"publishers":["Federal Communications Commission"],"latestSourceAccessDate":"2026-07-21","agendaHref":"/research/agenda?question=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Acounty-median#research-agenda-observatory","atlasHref":"/atlas?focus=question%3Afixed-broadband-hhi%3Acounty-median&layer=research","researchProfileHref":"/research/agenda/fixed-broadband-hhi--county-median","monitorHref":"/economy/monitor?signal=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Acounty-median#competition-monitor-console","notebookHref":"/notebooks?recipe=fixed-broadband-concentration","briefingHref":"/research/briefing?signals=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Acounty-median&audience=research#competition-briefing-studio","profileHref":"/geographies/broadband?scope=county-median","explorerHref":"/geographies/broadband?scope=county-median&period=2024-12#fixed-broadband-atlas","signalGuardrail":"The FCC series reports HHI for residential fixed connections of at least 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. The national value and medians across states, counties, and census tracts describe different geographic summaries; they are not interchangeable legal market definitions, and a median does not describe the full distribution within or across areas.","agendaGuardrail":"Agenda questions are derived from published latest-to-prior competition signals and remain attached to their exact metric, periods, universe, and source custody. They are not ranked, scored, or treated as findings of causality, competitive harm, liability, enforcement merit, or research importance. Evidence requests describe work to collect, not evidence already established."},{"id":"fixed-broadband-hhi:state-median","ordinal":9,"question":"Which areas and provider-share changes account for movement in the state median, and how wide is the distribution hidden by the median?","methodId":"geographic-structure","methodLabel":"Geographic structure","methodDetail":"Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.","evidenceRequests":["Area-level provider connection shares behind the national or median geographic HHI path.","Full state, county, or tract HHI distributions so movement in the median is not mistaken for a uniform shift.","Technology, speed-tier, entry, exit, acquisition, and subscriber-mix records for both annual anchors.","Local product, geographic, pricing, quality, switching, and availability evidence before treating a reporting area as an antitrust market."],"domain":"geographies","domainLabel":"Broadband geographies","entityId":"fixed-broadband-state-median","entityCode":"state-median","entityLabel":"Median state","metricId":"fixed-broadband-hhi","metricLabel":"Residential fixed broadband State median","unit":"hhi_points","priorPeriod":"Dec 2023","priorYear":2023,"priorValue":2994,"latestPeriod":"Dec 2024","latestYear":2024,"latestValue":2937,"yearsBetween":1,"delta":-57,"deltaPercent":-1.9,"direction":"decreased","observation":"Median state moved from HHI 2,994 in Dec 2023 to 2,937 in Dec 2024 (-57 HHI points).","interpretation":"The December 2024 state median is lower than its December 2023 anchor. This geographic summary does not define a legal broadband market or identify why provider shares changed.","comparisonNote":"December 2024 versus December 2023 in the same FCC geographic summary. The intervening June release remains visible in the broadband atlas and is not used as the annual comparison anchor.","evidenceCount":9,"evidenceLabel":"9 FCC semiannual observations / Dec 2020-Dec 2024","confidenceLevel":"high","dataStatus":"verified","sourceCount":1,"sourceIds":["fcc-internet-access-dec-2024"],"publishers":["Federal Communications Commission"],"latestSourceAccessDate":"2026-07-21","agendaHref":"/research/agenda?question=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Astate-median#research-agenda-observatory","atlasHref":"/atlas?focus=question%3Afixed-broadband-hhi%3Astate-median&layer=research","researchProfileHref":"/research/agenda/fixed-broadband-hhi--state-median","monitorHref":"/economy/monitor?signal=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Astate-median#competition-monitor-console","notebookHref":"/notebooks?recipe=fixed-broadband-concentration","briefingHref":"/research/briefing?signals=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Astate-median&audience=research#competition-briefing-studio","profileHref":"/geographies/broadband?scope=state-median","explorerHref":"/geographies/broadband?scope=state-median&period=2024-12#fixed-broadband-atlas","signalGuardrail":"The FCC series reports HHI for residential fixed connections of at least 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. The national value and medians across states, counties, and census tracts describe different geographic summaries; they are not interchangeable legal market definitions, and a median does not describe the full distribution within or across areas.","agendaGuardrail":"Agenda questions are derived from published latest-to-prior competition signals and remain attached to their exact metric, periods, universe, and source custody. They are not ranked, scored, or treated as findings of causality, competitive harm, liability, enforcement merit, or research importance. Evidence requests describe work to collect, not evidence already established."},{"id":"state-bank-median-hhi","ordinal":10,"question":"Which state-specific paths, ownership-reporting changes, branch-booking patterns, entry, exit, or consolidation events account for movement beneath the cross-sectional median?","methodId":"geographic-structure","methodLabel":"Geographic structure","methodDetail":"Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.","evidenceRequests":["Annual state and national branch-deposit rows using the same ownership-grouping and June 30 vintage rules.","State-level organization, branch, leading-share, and nominal-deposit paths beneath the aggregate movement.","Ownership-reporting, branch-booking, entry, exit, acquisition, divestiture, and charter records for large state changes.","Local product and geographic evidence before treating any statewide or county screen as an antitrust market."],"domain":"geographies","domainLabel":"Geographic systems","entityId":"state-banking-screen","entityCode":"state-banking-screen","entityLabel":"Statewide branch-deposit screens","metricId":"state-bank-median-hhi","metricLabel":"Median statewide bank-deposit HHI","unit":"hhi_points","priorPeriod":"2015","priorYear":2015,"priorValue":958,"latestPeriod":"2025","latestYear":2025,"latestValue":903,"yearsBetween":10,"delta":-55,"deltaPercent":-5.7,"direction":"decreased","observation":"The annual 51-jurisdiction median branch-deposit HHI moved from 958 in 2015 to 903 in 2025 (-55.0 HHI points).","interpretation":"The later branch-deposit screen is lower than the 2015 anchor. This descriptive movement does not define a legal banking market, identify a cause, or measure every banking product.","comparisonNote":"Difference between independently observed 2015 and 2025 cross-sectional medians across the same 51-jurisdiction statewide screen; intermediate years remain available but are not interpolated.","evidenceCount":561,"evidenceLabel":"561 state-year rows / 11 annual 51-jurisdiction cross-sections","confidenceLevel":"high","dataStatus":"estimated_public","sourceCount":1,"sourceIds":["fdic-sod-2025"],"publishers":["Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation"],"latestSourceAccessDate":"2026-07-19","agendaHref":"/research/agenda?question=state-bank-median-hhi#research-agenda-observatory","atlasHref":"/atlas?focus=question%3Astate-bank-median-hhi&layer=research","researchProfileHref":"/research/agenda/state-bank-median-hhi","monitorHref":"/economy/monitor?signal=state-bank-median-hhi#competition-monitor-console","notebookHref":"/notebooks?recipe=state-banking-history","briefingHref":"/research/briefing?signals=state-bank-median-hhi&audience=research#competition-briefing-studio","profileHref":"/geographies#state-competition-systems","explorerHref":"/geographies?bankYear=2025&bankMetric=hhi#state-banking-history","signalGuardrail":"Annual statewide and national rows are independent June 30 branch-deposit screens, not interpolated observations or legal market definitions. Reported ownership structures, branch booking, and jurisdiction coverage can change between vintages; deposit values are nominal and should not be read as inflation-adjusted growth.","agendaGuardrail":"Agenda questions are derived from published latest-to-prior competition signals and remain attached to their exact metric, periods, universe, and source custody. They are not ranked, scored, or treated as findings of causality, competitive harm, liability, enforcement merit, or research importance. Evidence requests describe work to collect, not evidence already established."},{"id":"fixed-broadband-hhi:nation","ordinal":11,"question":"What provider-share, technology, speed-tier, entry, and geographic composition changes explain the rise in national HHI while median subnational HHIs declined?","methodId":"geographic-structure","methodLabel":"Geographic structure","methodDetail":"Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.","evidenceRequests":["Area-level provider connection shares behind the national or median geographic HHI path.","Full state, county, or tract HHI distributions so movement in the median is not mistaken for a uniform shift.","Technology, speed-tier, entry, exit, acquisition, and subscriber-mix records for both annual anchors.","Local product, geographic, pricing, quality, switching, and availability evidence before treating a reporting area as an antitrust market."],"domain":"geographies","domainLabel":"Broadband geographies","entityId":"fixed-broadband-nation","entityCode":"nation","entityLabel":"U.S. fixed broadband connections","metricId":"fixed-broadband-hhi","metricLabel":"Residential fixed broadband National HHI","unit":"hhi_points","priorPeriod":"Dec 2023","priorYear":2023,"priorValue":1195,"latestPeriod":"Dec 2024","latestYear":2024,"latestValue":1501,"yearsBetween":1,"delta":306,"deltaPercent":25.6,"direction":"increased","observation":"United States moved from HHI 1,195 in Dec 2023 to 1,501 in Dec 2024 (+306 HHI points).","interpretation":"The December 2024 national hhi is higher than its December 2023 anchor. This geographic summary does not define a legal broadband market or identify why provider shares changed.","comparisonNote":"December 2024 versus December 2023 in the same FCC geographic summary. The intervening June release remains visible in the broadband atlas and is not used as the annual comparison anchor.","evidenceCount":9,"evidenceLabel":"9 FCC semiannual observations / Dec 2020-Dec 2024","confidenceLevel":"high","dataStatus":"verified","sourceCount":1,"sourceIds":["fcc-internet-access-dec-2024"],"publishers":["Federal Communications Commission"],"latestSourceAccessDate":"2026-07-21","agendaHref":"/research/agenda?question=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Anation#research-agenda-observatory","atlasHref":"/atlas?focus=question%3Afixed-broadband-hhi%3Anation&layer=research","researchProfileHref":"/research/agenda/fixed-broadband-hhi--nation","monitorHref":"/economy/monitor?signal=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Anation#competition-monitor-console","notebookHref":"/notebooks?recipe=fixed-broadband-concentration","briefingHref":"/research/briefing?signals=fixed-broadband-hhi%3Anation&audience=research#competition-briefing-studio","profileHref":"/geographies/broadband?scope=nation","explorerHref":"/geographies/broadband?scope=nation&period=2024-12#fixed-broadband-atlas","signalGuardrail":"The FCC series reports HHI for residential fixed connections of at least 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. The national value and medians across states, counties, and census tracts describe different geographic summaries; they are not interchangeable legal market definitions, and a median does not describe the full distribution within or across areas.","agendaGuardrail":"Agenda questions are derived from published latest-to-prior competition signals and remain attached to their exact metric, periods, universe, and source custody. They are not ranked, scored, or treated as findings of causality, competitive harm, liability, enforcement merit, or research importance. Evidence requests describe work to collect, not evidence already established."},{"id":"national-bank-deposit-hhi","ordinal":12,"question":"How can the nearly stable national aggregate be reconciled with state-level movement, organization turnover, branch change, and nominal deposit growth?","methodId":"geographic-structure","methodLabel":"Geographic structure","methodDetail":"Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.","evidenceRequests":["Annual state and national branch-deposit rows using the same ownership-grouping and June 30 vintage rules.","State-level organization, branch, leading-share, and nominal-deposit paths beneath the aggregate movement.","Ownership-reporting, branch-booking, entry, exit, acquisition, divestiture, and charter records for large state changes.","Local product and geographic evidence before treating any statewide or county screen as an antitrust market."],"domain":"geographies","domainLabel":"Geographic systems","entityId":"us-bank-branch-deposits","entityCode":"us-bank-branch-deposits","entityLabel":"United States branch-deposit screen","metricId":"national-bank-deposit-hhi","metricLabel":"National bank-deposit HHI","unit":"hhi_points","priorPeriod":"2015","priorYear":2015,"priorValue":410,"latestPeriod":"2025","latestYear":2025,"latestValue":401,"yearsBetween":10,"delta":-9,"deltaPercent":-2.2,"direction":"decreased","observation":"The national branch-deposit HHI moved from 410 in 2015 to 401 in 2025 (-9.0 HHI points).","interpretation":"The later branch-deposit screen is lower than the 2015 anchor. This descriptive movement does not define a legal banking market, identify a cause, or measure every banking product.","comparisonNote":"Difference between the independently observed 2015 and 2025 national Summary of Deposits aggregates; annual state cross-sections remain a separate geographic universe.","evidenceCount":11,"evidenceLabel":"11 national annual rows / 2015-2025","confidenceLevel":"high","dataStatus":"estimated_public","sourceCount":1,"sourceIds":["fdic-sod-2025"],"publishers":["Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation"],"latestSourceAccessDate":"2026-07-19","agendaHref":"/research/agenda?question=national-bank-deposit-hhi#research-agenda-observatory","atlasHref":"/atlas?focus=question%3Anational-bank-deposit-hhi&layer=research","researchProfileHref":"/research/agenda/national-bank-deposit-hhi","monitorHref":"/economy/monitor?signal=national-bank-deposit-hhi#competition-monitor-console","notebookHref":"/notebooks?recipe=state-banking-history","briefingHref":"/research/briefing?signals=national-bank-deposit-hhi&audience=research#competition-briefing-studio","profileHref":"/geographies#state-competition-systems","explorerHref":"/geographies?bankYear=2025&bankMetric=hhi#state-banking-history","signalGuardrail":"Annual statewide and national rows are independent June 30 branch-deposit screens, not interpolated observations or legal market definitions. Reported ownership structures, branch booking, and jurisdiction coverage can change between vintages; deposit values are nominal and should not be read as inflation-adjusted growth.","agendaGuardrail":"Agenda questions are derived from published latest-to-prior competition signals and remain attached to their exact metric, periods, universe, and source custody. They are not ranked, scored, or treated as findings of causality, competitive harm, liability, enforcement merit, or research importance. Evidence requests describe work to collect, not evidence already established."}]}