Why Faster Broadband? Well... consider the case of Cedar Falls

[Commentary] High-speed broadband has been shown clearly to be an economic driver.

In communities across the country — and the globe — economies with faster broadband thrive. Small towns and counties across the U.S. are making the investment to connect — and compete — with the rest of the world. An example: in 1994, the community of Cedar Falls, Iowa, decided to invest in building a high-speed fiber network. In 2004, they studied how their community had done economically over the previous decade, compared to a neighboring community of similar demographics that had not invested in broadband. Just a few years after the network was in place, real estate values went up and stayed up, tax rolls increased, unemployment went down, dozens of new companies formed, and several companies relocated to the area — without the loss of a single existing business to relocation. New construction, which had traditionally been about half that of the neighboring community, became twice that over the same 10-year period. Broadband raises all ships — students have access to more educational opportunities; workers can garner high-wage, high-growth jobs; businesses have better access to their customers and to an expanded marketplace; access to medical specialists increases exponentially. Expansion of broadband-driven sectors will mitigate the cyclicality of our economy, which is currently driven primarily by construction, tourism and real estate — all recession-prone industries.

[Compton is executive director of the San Juan County Economic Development Council]