Broadband

The Effects of Broadband Deployment are Tremendous

Broadband Internet access, commonly known as high-speed Internet access, has transformed our lives – both personally and professionally. Never before have consumers had the power to access so much data so quickly than they do today.

Broadband is becoming more and more accessible to consumers in all parts of the country, as more companies are working to develop and deploy advanced communications networks to handle Internet traffic. A study by economists at the Brookings Institution found that in mid-2000, there were only 4.1 million broadband lines in the United States, and only 3.2 million were residential. Just six years later, the number of broadband lines shot-up to 53.5 million, with 49 million being residential.

Broadband Benefits
The effects of broadband deployment are tremendous. For general consumer purposes, having broadband means you can send e-mails faster, download and view bigger files faster, and conduct personal business such as banking and shopping more quickly and efficiently. Gone are the days of waiting restlessly for websites to load!

For businesses, broadband connections means productivity goes up. With high speed connectivity, businesses can gain new customers, enter new markets and cut costs.

Additionally, increased broadband deployment results in investment and job creation. Economists Robert Crandall, William Lehr and Robert Litan of the Brookings Institution recently released a study that claims “for every one percentage point increase in broadband penetration in a state, employment is projected to increase by 0.2 to 0.3 percent per year.” At first glance, that percentage increase may look small, but it actually translates into an increase of about 300,000 jobs nationwide!

We Need Policies That Promote Competition
What’s so vital to ensuring broadband penetration rates continue to increase are policies that promote competition so that consumers and businesses can continue to reap the benefits with more choices, competitive prices and faster, better technology.

Further Reading

Broadband Baloney
Wall Street Journal
Robert McDowell
Federal Communications Commissioner