The need for broadband Internet adoption

By USIIA President and Broadband for America (BfA) Member Dave McClure

The Hill, 2/8/10

The Internet “eco-system” has been one of the few areas of actual job growth in our economy over the past two years.  To begin with, the major network providers employ an estimated 180,000 workers in their own right.  But there is more.

According to a study by Hamilton Consultants, “[s]ome 20,000 small businesses operate on the Internet, 120,000 individuals are primarily employed as eBay sellers, and 500,000 individuals have part-time businesses on eBay.”

The figures get even higher when you add the number of self-employed who work exclusively from home --  which, according to the US Census Bureau, includes 8.1 million people in 2005 (the latest available data).  And the total population of people working from home – at least some of the time – was estimated to be 11.3 million.

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The bad news is that the population groups most likely to be unemployed or under-employed are also the most likely to have failed to adopt broadband access to the Internet in their homes.

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Through its work, BfA will operate across all segments of society to look for ways to overcome the barriers to adoption, so that broadband access becomes a major tool for the unemployed and underemployed families to help them work their way back into the labor force.

Click here to read to read the Op-ed.

Broadband for America (BfA) is a growing coalition of over 150 members ranging from independent consumer advocacy groups, to content and application providers, to the companies which build and maintain the Internet. The complete BfA membership list is available at: http://www.broadbandforamerica.com/about/members