[RTC List] Jobs & broadband

Fri May 1 03:40:57 PDT 2009

Larry,

Thanks for posting that article. Unfortunately, it failed to go far enough
with it's analysis, in that while it may indeed attract new jobs to an
area when you spend a ton of money on training and educating its
population (setting aside, for the moment, where the money comes from for
all of that...), it is simply not a concept that can be made to scale
across the entire country.

In order for a well-educated, well-connected community to attract new
jobs, the jobs must first be lured-away from someplace else. Companies can
not simply create jobs out of thin air, just because qualified employees
exist. When a company moves jobs, or is able to create new ones, one
community's gain is always another's (potential) loss. In more practical
terms, if I had 100x the bandwidth that I have now, how would it help my
job opportunities or business? Would it somehow make my business more
competitive with those in other countries? Honestly, even from the
standpoint of being in an internet based-business, it wouldn't really help
all that much. Certainly not at the expense of increased taxes.

Let's face it, most of the increased bandwidth usage these days has
nothing whatsoever to do with business need or job creation. It is going
to bring home users faster streaming video and audio, P2P, music
downloads, video games, movie downloads, pirated software and porn. That's
a simple, statistical fact. Most businesses that I know use much less
bandwidth than the average teenager does these days. Why should any of our
tax money be spent, just so that some 16 year old in the boonies can
download the latest video game at 100x the speed that he used to, or that
some rich guy can download a PPV movie from his remote Winter cabin near
Aspen? I spending all of this money really necessary?

-- 
William Van Hefner - President
Vantek Communications, Inc.
e-mail: editor at humboldtonline.com
http://www.humboldtonline.com

On Wed, April 29, 2009 10:32 am, Larry Goldberg wrote:
> Do jobs follow broadband in rural areas?  Interesting article:
>
>
>
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042
> 203
> 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."
>
>
>
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