Roberto Gallardo, an Associate professor at Purdue University, has released an interesting policy paper, An Evolving Digital Divide: Measuring and Understanding Mobile-Dependent Households (MDH). The paper summarizes Gallardo’s research, using U.S. Census data, to compare households that rely on cellular for broadband connectivity in homes before and after the pandemic.
The paper cites several interesting statistics. Data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) shows that the percentage of homes with no Internet access decreased from 17.6% in 2017 to 6.5% in 2025, meaning that 12.5 million homes gained broadband over that period. However, over the same period, the percentage of homes that only access the Internet with a smartphone increased from 7.5% in 2017 to 11.5% in 2024, an increase of six million households. The study also looked at device ownership. The percentage of homes that only have mobile devices (no laptops or desktops) in 2017 was 9% of 2017 and increased to 15.2% by 2024, an increase of 9 million homes. These statistics show that, while home broadband usage has increased dramatically by 12.5 million homes from 2017 to 2024, a lot of that gain was from the growth of mobile-dependent homes.
Over the years, I recall seeing articles in the popular press that speculated about these trends and concluded that people are increasingly happy with mobile broadband and don’t need a big-screen broadband option. Gallardo cites other studies that come to a different conclusion. He cites a study by Napoli and Obar in 2014 that coined the term “mobile Internet underclass” to describe the inferior nature of broadband access through a cellphone using the small screen and data plans with small data caps. That study concluded that treating mobile access as equivalent to fixed broadband risks rendering the growing mobile-only population invisible. He also cites a study by Quaglione, Matteucci, Furia, Marra, and Pozzi in 2020 that says that mobile broadband is a good complement to having home broadband, but is not a substitute for home broadband.
Gallardo goes on to undertake a deep data dive into the Census data for 2019 and 2024. He looked to see if he could discern any differences in mobile-dependent households that are related to metrics like metropolitan versus rural, race, those between 18 and 34, those over 65, households employed in blue-collar occupations, household incomes, home ownership, and homes with no Internet access available.
Some of the most interesting findings from the data related to mobile-only households include:
- Metropolitan areas saw a significant increase in the percentage of MDH households.
- There was no statistical change for those between 18 and 34.
- There was a decrease in the percentage of MDH households over 65
- There was an increase in the percentage of MDH for homes with no broadband availability.
- There was a drop in the percentage of MDH in blue-collar households.
- There was a higher percentage of MDH in low-income households.
Gallardo’s research didn’t look at the causes of the shifts, but it’s not hard to speculate about the reason behind some of the statistics. The increase in mobile-dependent homes in urban areas and in low-income homes is likely mostly linked to affordability. The decrease in mobile-dependent homes in those over 65 and blue-collar workers might be due to increased home broadband availability,
Gallardo reaches some interesting conclusions based upon the statistics. First, infrastructure alone does not solve the digital divide issues that push homes to use mobile broadband instead of home broadband. He concludes that if the goal is to improve access to broadband, then infrastructure construction should be paired with demand-side intervention programs like providing devices, digital literacy training, and affordability programs. At least for now, much of the digital equity funding is in limbo, and we saw Congress allow the ACP program to die on the vine. Gallardo says, “Without affordability support, the path of least resistance for many households is a mobile plan.”
Gallardo’s research highlights an important distinction in how we measure progress on the digital divide. While the percentage of households with no internet access has fallen significantly, the number of households relying primarily on smartphones and mobile connectivity has grown substantially. In other words, being counted as “connected” doesn’t necessarily tell us much about the quality of that connection.
That is especially important for mobile-dependent households. If a smartphone is your primary connection to the internet, poor cellular coverage, slow speeds, or a dead zone can effectively become a broadband access problem.
This is an important data gap. Community-based, real-world mobile speed testing can help document whether the cellular service people increasingly depend on actually works where they live, work, travel, and access essential services. There are several testing apps and one that stands out is from YOWIEPatrol.org – Yes, Outstanding Wireless Is Essential. It’s free and also collects data in areas with no connectivity.
Gallardo’s research makes a strong case that the evolving digital divide isn’t just about who has internet access anymore. We also need to understand how people are connected—and how reliable that connection really is.