A County-Level Priority Index for Mobile Broadband Investment in Florida

Abstract

Access to mobile broadband remains unequal, and public programs must decide which counties shouldreceive priority for mobile broadband investment. This study develops a transparent, reproducible index toprioritize Florida's 67 counties by their mobile broadband investment needs. Coverage data from theFederal Communications Commission National Broadband Map were combined with demographic datafrom the United States Census Bureau American Community Survey. For each county, apopulation-weighted coverage gap and a need score reflecting poverty, income, age, and population werecalculated. These were combined into a priority index, and the strength of the ranking was measuredthrough an analysis across several weighting methods. The index was dominated by thepopulation-weighted coverage gap, with Miami-Dade County ranking first by a huge margin. Therelationship between income/poverty levels and the coverage gap at the county level was weak. Amultiple regression model showed that county population size, not economic hardship, was the mostinfluential variable for predicting the extent of this coverage gap. The ranking was highly sensitive to theweighting used, indicating a trade-off between rural areas where gaps are small and urban areas withlarge coverage needs. This method provides a reproducible way to analyze those trade-offs.