Study Shows Broadband Is an Economic Stimulus for Rural Communities

It has long been accepted that broadband access is a catalyst for economic development among rural communities. Until now, there just hasn’t been evidence to prove this knowledge. In a study commissioned by the National Agricultural & Rural Development Policy Center (NARDeP), a team of researchers discovered a link between communities that have a “high level of broadband adoption” and counties that “experienced higher income growth and saw smaller increase in unemployment rates”. Conversely, those counties that had low broadband adoption rates “saw lower growth in their numbers of businesses and total numbers of employees.”

We encourage you to read the entire report yourself, but the takeaway from this report is that broadband is an ever increasing driver of rural economies. Counties wanting to keep up, or pull ahead of the curve need to adopt broadband and promote its use in its communities.