Industry experts in the United States have expressed concern that many small businesses in rural areas could end up suffering as a result of lack of broadband access in these areas.
A number of industry experts in the United States have recently expressed their concerns over many small businesses and industries in rural areas of the country could end up suffering in the current climate as a result of the lack of availability of broadband services. Many of these officials want federal stimulus funds to be used to expand broadband services in more rural areas of the country.
Officials have said that smaller towns with limited or no access to broadband services could find themselves suffering as a result of this, adding that higher speed broadband access is vital to the success of many of these towns. They also said that many small businesses could find that they will be unable to weather the recession without access to high speed broadband, which could lead to the doom and failure of many.
Debbie Goldman, telecom policy director for the Communications Workers of America used the farming industry as an example. She said that many farmers in these rural areas needed access to the internet for things such as marketing, checking on commondity prices, and even forecasting the weather. She said: “You have to have broadband in order for there to be any kind of economic activity.”
Similar concerns have been expressed by industry experts in the UK, where rural broabdand ‘not spots’ have been identified. As a result of this the govenrment has produced a Digital Britain Report, which aims to provide broadband access for all over the coming few years.
Source – UPI.com