[RTC List] Jobs & broadband

[Larry Goldberg]

Do jobs follow broadband in rural areas?  Interesting article:

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042203
637.html

 

Rural Riddle: Do Jobs Follow Broadband Access?
Two Hamlets That Got High-Speed Lines Show Wildly Different Results

By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 23, 2009 

In the southwest corner of Virginia, where tobacco farms meet the
Appalachian Mountains, two towns desperately in need of an economic boost
were given what many had hoped would be a kick-start: access to high-speed
Internet. 

But there the paths of Lebanon and Rose Hill diverged. One attracted two
large companies that created 700 good-paying jobs for residents. In the
other, only a few home-based businesses got off the ground. 

President Obama has touted broadband as a means toward transforming rural
and low-income areas, setting aside $7.2 billion in the stimulus plan to
help create jobs and close the "digital divide." He has been joined in his
support by a chorus of countries, including Australia, which recently said
it would spend $31 billion laying fiber and other networks to get ahead in
an emerging high-tech global economy. 



Despite the support for publicly funded broadband networks -- and the push
by private companies to jump into the fray -- some have questioned whether
bringing high-speed Internet has a direct effect on jobs and the economy. 

Many high-tech companies have heralded a January report by the Information
Technology and Innovation Foundation, a research organization, that stated
that an investment of $10 billion in broadband networks across the country
would create nearly 500,000 jobs, including the hard-hat jobs digging
trenches and laying fiber lines. Other positions would come from businesses
that rise from high-tech innovation and better productivity, the report
said. 

But some economists have questioned such predictions, saying that bringing
high-speed Internet to rural areas is much more complicated. 

"For the idea that some sort of magical economic development will occur,
there is no evidence that that can happen," said Robert W. Crandall, a
senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has studied the issue. 

Some potential subscribers may not see the benefit of getting online, while
others may not be able to afford the monthly service fees. Residents with
limited exposure to technology and low education levels may struggle to meet
the job qualifications of tech-sector positions. 

"You can't just drop an Internet line and expect jobs growth. Getting
broadband access is only the first part," said Larry Irving, former head of
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. 

Supporters of broadband as a way to jump-start an economy cite Lebanon as an
example of how technology can change a town. High-speed Internet came three
years ago after Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), and Mark R. Warner, then
governor, helped get $2.3 million in grants to bring fiber-optic pipes to
homes and business parks. 

The defense contractor Northrop Grumman and the software maker CGI set up
facilities and created jobs for about 700 people, with salaries averaging
$50,000 a year, Boucher said. 



Sarah Jones, 12, helps Hailey Sailor, 8, at Rose Hill Community Library.
Rose Hill got public money for high-speed lines.
(Wade Payne - Www.thepurplelens.com/wade Payne)

It helped that district planners at the same time converted an old strip
mall to a training center that allowed residents to get their high school
equivalency diplomas and prepare for jobs as technicians and information
technology workers. 

"They took a holistic view of its workforce with support programs, and they
see it as a long process," said Karen Jackson, director of Virginia's Office
of Telework Promotion and Broadband Assistance. 

CGI said it was attracted by Lebanon's willingness to train workers and by
higher levels of education than in other parts of the region. About 71
percent of Lebanon's residents have a high school diploma, compared with
Rose Hill, where only 29 percent do, according to the census. 



In Rose Hill, at Virginia's southwest corner, no companies have moved in and
just a few people have started home businesses since high-speed Internet
lines were installed. (Photos By Wade Payne For The Washington Post)

The story of Rose Hill is more nuanced. 

Telecommunications and cable service providers had been unwilling to bring
in broadband networks. The costs of laying fiber lines and building cell
towers among miles of fallow tobacco farms and through mountainous terrain
would never be recovered by subscriber fees, they said. 

But two years ago, with the help of Boucher, fiber lines were brought to
Rose Hill's 700 residents. The town was able to tap money from a state
tobacco settlement fund for broadband projects and a rural
telecommunications program run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

At a cost of $700,000 for 140 homes, fat fiber-optic pipes came. A local
telecom carrier offered in-home service for $49 a month. Free broadband came
to the town's library. 

One in three homes signed up for the service. Only a handful of jobs were
created. 

Joan Minor was able to work from her home in Rose Hill, where she writes
grants and is paid by the Agriculture Department to run the community's Web
site. Mike Bacon kept his franchise with NAPA Auto Parts through a few swift
keystrokes. 

"It's changed my business, and I'm getting better deals than before," said
Bacon, who is now an online bargain-hunter. 

Derek Turner, research director for public advocacy group Free Press, said
the social benefits of providing broadband to all Americans are enormous, as
it would allow people in remote areas like Rose Hill to be engaged in
cultural and social trends. 

But getting people to subscribe to online services and translating the
availability of broadband to economic growth is a harder to achieve. 

And the education gap cannot be dismissed, said John Horrigan, director of
the Pew Internet & American Life Project. 

"It's Economic Development 101 to try to improve the supply of
infrastructure to make a locality more attractive for businesses, but you do
need a skilled workforce to fully exploit that," Horrigan said. "In rural
America, for broadband adoption, skills and relevance still remain a
barrier." 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://redwoodtech.org/pipermail/list_redwoodtech.org/attachments/20090429/6e446653/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 16297 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://redwoodtech.org/pipermail/list_redwoodtech.org/attachments/20090429/6e446653/attachment.jpe>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 21478 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://redwoodtech.org/pipermail/list_redwoodtech.org/attachments/20090429/6e446653/attachment-0001.jpe>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 19402 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://redwoodtech.org/pipermail/list_redwoodtech.org/attachments/20090429/6e446653/attachment-0002.jpe>