Hearing of the House Small Business Committee - The Digital Divide: Expanding Broadband Access to Small Businesses
Hearing
Stressing that access to reliable broadband networks can significantly expand opportunities for small business growth and job creation, Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) today urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski to ramp up efforts to get broadband access to rural areas. Genachowski testified before today's Small Business Committee hearing entitled: The Digital Divide: Expanding Broadband Access to Small Businesses.
Tipton's opening statement to the committee:
"Last November, the FCC reported in its Seventh Broadband Progress Report and Order on Reconsideration that around 100 million Americans still don't have broadband in their homes. This is about 1/3rd of our population and is extremely troubling especially in light of the fact that the US is now competing in a global economy. In Colorado, the state legislature commissioned the state's first-ever broadband-mapping project and concluded that "while almost every household in metro Denver can subscribe to broadband service, in the 15 mostly rural counties," most of which are in my district, "broadband availability is less than 80 percent." In this same report, Custer County in my district had the lowest rate at 56 percent. This is unacceptable.
"The Census Bureau has reported that from 1998 to 2009, online annual sales grew from $4.9 billion to $145 billion. In his testimony Chairman Genachowski, cited a study that pointed out that "having a broadband connection makes a $200,000 a year difference in median annual revenues for businesses." Unfortunately in Colorado, many of the areas where unemployment is the highest also have the least amount of access to broadband and high speed internet. This is more than a coincidence. We must ensure that resources are made available outside of suburban areas so that we can get broadband access into rural communities and thereby increase opportunities for small businesses, so that they can grow and create jobs. Given budgetary limitations, in order to accomplish this we must think outside the box.
"To that end, I encourage Chairman Genachowski to enact guidelines that encourage private investment for expanding rural broadband access, in conjunction with more efficiently using existing tax payer funds available to the FCC to better serve the broadband needs of underserved rural areas."
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