|
Click here to read our latest study on affordable broadband. |
So much of what we use the Internet for today would be impossible without high-speed Broadband connections. Clearly, access to Broadband has never been more important in this increasingly-wired world we live in. Roughly 65 million Americans now have a Broadband connection at home – typically though DSL lines or a cable modem.
The Pew Foundation recently conducted a national survey and found that 55% of adult Americans now have broadband internet connections at home, up from 47% who had high-speed access at home last year at this time. From March 2006 to March 2007, home broadband adoption grew from 42% of Americans to 47%. The results are even more promising for African-Americans. In the last two years alone, the percentage of African-American adults with Broadband access at home has nearly tripled from 14 percent in 2005 to almost 40 percent in 2007. Additionally, in April 2008, 43% of African Americans had a Broadband connection at home versus 40% who said this in March of 2007.
What does this mean besides faster downloads or being able to watch videos on YouTube? Broadband deployment creates jobs. The Brookings Institute recently concluded that even a 1 percent increase in the number of Broadband connections adds approximately 295,000 jobs to the American economy. For a state like Florida for example, this translates into 17,000 jobs. This means more job opportunities in manufacturing, finance, education, and health care. Beyond jobs, Broadband allows all Americans to benefit from new technologies and progress in distance learning, telemedicine and social networking.
The Alliance encourages policymakers to pursue policies that will encourage further investment in Broadband networks, and avoid new regulations that might reverse the recent gains in providing access to Broadband to millions of Americans.
Academic Studies on this Issue
|
1447 Peachtree Street, Suite 550 | Atlanta, GA 30309 *
[email protected]