This report assesses whether policies to raise broadband availability will contribute, as hoped, to local economic development. PPIC analysis relies on the fact that broadband technology has diffused unevenly throughout the United States, thus allowing us to compare economic indicators between areas with greater and less growth in broadband availability. Using broadband data from the Federal Communications Commission and economic data from several government and proprietary sources, researchers examine broadband availability and economic activity throughout the nation between 1999 and 2006.
Category: Economic Development
Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth
By Nina Czernich, Oliver Falck, Tobias Kretschmer, Ludger Woessmann
We estimate the effect of broadband infrastructure, which enables high-speed internet, on economic growth in the panel of OECD countries in 1996-2007. Our instrumental-variable model derives its non-linear first stage from a logistic diffusion model where pre-existing voice-telephony and cable-TV networks predict maximum broadband penetration. We find that a 10 percentage-point increase in broadband penetration raises annual per-capita growth by 0.9-1.5 percentage points. Results are robust to country and year fixed effects and controlling for linear second-stage effects of our instruments. We verify that our instruments predict broadband penetration but not diffusion of contemporaneous technologies like mobile telephony and computers.
NATOA Comments to FCC on Community Broadband and Economic Development
Next Generation Broadband as a Municipal Utility
It is in the national interest that higher-speed networks proliferate quickly and to the greatest extent possible – and that special measures be taken to ensure that these networks can be accessed by people who live beyond the major metropolitan areas. Accordingly, it is the position of the FTTH Council that anyone who has the means and the desire to build an FTTH network should be allowed and encouraged to do so.
US Broadband Coalition Report on a National Broadband Strategy
The accompanying report of the US Broadband Coalition culminates eighteen months of intensive effort to develop a comprehensive national broadband strategy that would be worthy of our great nation.
USDA: “Broadband Internet’s Value to Rural America”
As broadband—or high-speed—Internet use has spread, Internet applications requiring high transmission speeds have become an integral part of the “Information Economy,” raising concerns about those who lack broadband access. This report analyzes (1) rural broadband use by consumers, the community-at-large, and businesses; (2) rural broadband availability; and (3) broadband’s social and economic effects on rural areas. It also summarizes results from an ERS-sponsored workshop on rural broadband use, and other ERS-commissioned studies.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Section 6001(k)
Section of Reinvestment Act wherein “) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, a report containing a national broadband plan.”
Broadband Access is Vital for Economic Growth and Social Coherence
Uffe Toudal Pedersen, permanent secretary of the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, opened the FTTH Council Europe’s annual conference in Copenhagen with these remarks.
Fiber Broadband Networks: The 21st Century Crossroads
By Graham Richard, Broadband Properties Magazine
A collaborative fiber backbone in Indiana helps independent telcos bring FTTH to smaller cities, benefiting both the telcos and the cities.
Fiber Connections Boost Business Productivity
By Masha Zager, Broadband Properties magazine
Will we US taxpayers get our money’s worth by investing in high-speed broadband? There’s good reason to expect we will – especially if the money goes to FTTH networks. They’re stimulating.
The Digital Road to Recovery
By Robert D. Atkinson, Daniel Castro and Stephen J. Ezell
Spurring investments in IT infrastructure not only can provide an important short-term boost to the U.S. economy; it also can lay the groundwork for long-term economic growth, international competitiveness, and significant improvement in Americans’ quality of life.
Peregrine an economic windfall for the Cedar Valley
Peregrine Financial announced its intention to move the company headquarters from downtown Chicago to the Beaver Hills area of Cedar Falls. The project is expected to have a total economic impact of $124 million per year, thanks in large part to the Peregrine executives who are expected to move with the headquarters and their average yearly compensation of approximately $200,000 each.
Communications Workers of America: “Broadband Investment Creates Jobs”
Letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
The Effects of Broadband Deployment on Output and Employment
High-speed internet access has developed rapidly in the last decade and is increasingly viewed as essential infrastructure for our global information economy. For example, as recently as mid-2000 there were only 4.1 million broadband lines in the United States and only 3.2 million of these were residential lines. Thus, in mid-2000 less than one household in thirty could access the internet at a download speed of 200 kbps or greater. Six years later, the number of broadband lines, excluding mobile wireless connections, had soared to more than 53.5 million, 49 million of which were in residences. Residential penetration had therefore risen to nearly 50 percent by the middle of last year. (If mobile wireless connections are included, total U.S. broadband lines had risen to more than 64.6 million lines.)
FTTH Gives Homeowners a Raise
If you’ve recently placed your home on the market and are one of the lucky few in this country to be served with fiber to the home (FTTH), then you may have a little bonus headed your way. As FTTH deployments continue to escalate across the land, there is growing evidence that points to an increase in home valuation as a result of this ultra-broadband amenity. In many cases, real estate appraisals and selling prices for homes connected with fiber are outpacing their copper-served brethren. If you fall into this category and you didn’t factor an optical fiber connection into the selling price of your home, then you may need to have a talk with your realtor.