A Typology of Multilateral Treaty Obligations: Are WTO Obligations Bilateral or Collective in Nature?

Abstract

The steady growth of broadband penetration in the United States is indicative of a major shift in advanced data services and last-mile infrastructure in the deregulated telecommunication environ-ment. Although there are concerns with the equitable provision of broadband services in urban, rural and remote areas, the diffusion process has also created a unique landscape of broadband availability that reflects elements of competition, federal policy, local government initiatives, technological lim-itations and location. This paper explores the dynamic and diverse spatial landscape of broadband availability in the United States at the zip code level, for 2004. In addition, this study provides a mul-tivariate, spatial taxonomy of broadband regions, highlighting their socioeconomic and demo-graphic differences.