Research questions prompted by observed changes in competition data. Each question identifies an empirical approach, evidence needs, and what current observations cannot establish.
Question field / domain × method
Where the public research program is concentrated46 source-custodied questions across 5 evidence systems and 7 declared methods.
Research questions
46
signal-derived
Declared methods
7
metric-specific
Source records
12
current custody
Evidence requests
184
work to collect
Observed signalExact metric, anchors, interval, unit, and universe remain attached.
Bounded questionThe monitor question is preserved verbatim and never converted into a verdict.
Evidence requestDeclared collection work is separated from evidence already in custody.
Move from an observed change to a testable research program
Questions stay in published signal order. Methods and evidence requests are declared; no priority score is calculated.
Questions shown
46
of 46 published
Entities
32
exact signal subjects
Methods
7
of 7 declared
Source records
12
unique custody rows
Evidence requests
184
work items, not findings
Published questions46 / 46
Q09 / Broadband geographiesGeographic structure
Which areas and provider-share changes account for movement in the state median, and how wide is the distribution hidden by the median?
Median state / Residential fixed broadband State median
Dec 20232,994
-571 year
Dec 20242,937
Observed signal
Median state moved from HHI 2,994 in Dec 2023 to 2,937 in Dec 2024 (-57 HHI points).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.
Bounded 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.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.Empirical trackGeographic structure
Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.
Evidence base
9 FCC semiannual observations / Dec 2020-Dec 2024
Status
verified / high confidence
Declared empirical tracks
7 methods, each tied to a published metric family
The method register makes the work program inspectable while leaving research importance and enforcement merit unranked.
01Market mechanism
Test entry, exit, switching, price, quality, capacity, and share pathways inside the declared market boundary.
6 questions / market-hhi
02Share accounting
Reconstruct participant-share movement while checking denominator, coverage, entry, exit, and transaction changes.
9 questions / market-cr4, market-leader-share
03Industry disaggregation
Trace a sector median back to strict six-digit Census rows before proposing a product or geographic market study.
17 questions / industry-median-hhi
04Geographic structure
Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.