Wicker Highlights Importance of Broadband Access to Small Business' Success
High-Speed Internet has the Capability to Transform Our Lives
May 7, 2010
The livelihoods of many Americans depend on the success of their small businesses. These local shops once relied entirely on walk-up business and nearby customers. Today, commerce is taking place increasingly online, and innovative small businesses are now selling their goods and services in the worldwide marketplace through the Internet.
Limited Access in Rural Communities
In Mississippi, there are over 197,000 small businesses, and they are vital to the financial well-being of our state’s economy. Those businesses, from our local community pharmacists to our small town broadcasters, need a core set of tools in order to compete. Last century, those tools included hard workers with a drive to succeed and a marketplace to sell related goods or services. Today, connection to the Internet and its commercial infrastructure is an equally important tool. However, many small businesses still do not have access to broadband, or high-speed Internet, especially in rural areas of the state. Every business deserves quality and affordable Internet access to help them compete in the growing online marketplace. It is particularly vital that our rural areas have this type of access to promote business innovation and job creation.
There are many parts of the United States where broadband access is not yet available. Congress recognizes the importance of empowering every community to keep up with the pace of innovation, and we are considering better ways to connect America through high-speed Internet. The Federal Communication Commission recently presented the National Broadband Plan, which gives a broad analysis of our telecommunications marketplace. This plan should serve as a flexible roadmap that provides many options to help us meet two important goals: First, we must ensure that our telecommunications industry is competitive in the global marketplace. Second, broadband must be widely available in order to help our small and rural businesses compete locally, regionally, and nationally.
Private Investment Drives Innovation
We know these goals are already being achieved in some of our communities in different ways. The telecommunications industry is technologically diverse, allowing Americans to subscribe to broadband Internet service through wireless providers, cable providers, and telephone companies. Consumers even have the option of satellite access. Future infrastructure investment and continuing expansion of coverage by all of these telecommunications service providers has the potential to connect every community through broadband.
By partnering with private industry, we can work toward the goal of nationwide broadband access with minimal government intervention and little additional burden on the taxpayer. In the last year alone, the telecommunications industry has invested more than $60 million toward bringing broadband to communities that had little or no high-speed Internet access. Where we determine that the federal government should play a role in nationwide broadband deployment, we must ensure it is accomplished with a light touch and clear recognition of the driving force of private investment. Too much federal involvement could hinder innovation and discourage the participation of vital partners in private industry.
Not everyone agrees on the details of the plan to move forward, but there is broad consensus that expanding broadband to every community in America should be a priority. A decade from now we will look back at efforts to connect unserved and underserved areas of our country and fully appreciate the economic development and the new opportunities this undertaking will create for rural communities.
Community Benefits of Broadband
For some households, broadband may be as familiar a technology as cable television. Many others may not be aware of the advantages high-speed Internet offers. Students whose learning opportunities were once confined to local classrooms and libraries now have access to a world of information and learning. Communities that lack critical specialty care and diagnostic services could benefit from telemedicine made possible through the Internet. Families separated by great distances can stay in touch through email, instant messages, and even video teleconferencing. Broadband access can truly transform the way we live our lives.
As a member of the Senate Small Business Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee, I look forward to playing an active role in making this transformative technology available across Mississippi and the United States.
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