Fiber-broadband-internet and its regional impact—An empirical investigation

I analyze a quasi-natural experiment of fiber broadband rollout in a rural German county and investigate the impact on real estate values. I find that there are strong and significant effects of fiber broadband deployment, which indicate relevant personal benefits for customers. These findings add to the literature on the evaluation of broadband infrastructure investment. •Analyzing quasi-natural-experimental situation to derive the causal impact of fiber rollout.•Identification of fiber internet rollout’s private utility increase.•Increase in private utility (real estate values) is significant from an economic perspective.•Value of utility may outweigh cost of deployment, which makes strong subsidies more difficult to justify.