Broadband Internet Service Helping Create a Rural Digital Economy

During the past two decades, the Internet has grown rapidly, joining telephones, televisions, and cars as a common necessity and becoming an integral part of the economy. Rural America has shared in the growth of the Internet economy as more business, government, and personal activities have gone online. In 2007, 71 percent of the rural population used the Internet, and 55 percent of farms reported using the Internet for business purposes. As the Internet economy has evolved, more online applications require higher data transmission rates. The low transmission capability and speed of dial-up Internet service severely limit access to content-dense applications and websites. As a result, broadband Internet access has become a necessity for those wishing to benefit from the Internet's full economic potential. An ERS study found that investment in rural broadband Internet access seems to lead to a more competitive rural economy and rural economic growth, helping create a rural digital economy. Comparing the economic growth of counties with broadband access in 2000 with that of otherwise similar counties without broadband suggests that broadband availability helped spur the formation of new businesses and increased the growth of existing firms.