Broadband and Contributions to Economic Growth: Lessons from the U.S. Experience

Abstract

The connection between broadband deployment and economic prosperity in the United States has garnered public attention due to stimulus plan funding authorized in February 2009 for broadband planning and deployment initiatives. The importance of innovation for a nation’s economic well-being is fairly well understood. The question with reference to broadband is: To what extent does the adoption of innovative broadband applications contribute to that growth? This article analyzes the connection between information and communications technologies and economic growth, as well as the connection between broadband and economic growth. There appears to be a positive economic impact from expanded broadband deployment and adoption. However, various research challenges including methodological problems and access to sufficiently granular data have prevented the authors from drawing more definitive conclusions from the U.S. broadband experience. Another finding is the time lag for businesses to effectively exploit innovative broadband applications.

Keywords: Broadband, communications, economic growth, Federal Communications Commission, global competitiveness