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With the FCC currently working to overhaul the Universal Service Fund to reflect the digital age, a new paper from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business examines the effect increased broadband access would have on rural communities. Authored by Jeffrey Macher and John Mayo, “Achieving Rural Universal Service in a Broadband Era: Emergent Evidence from the Evolution of Telephone Demand” finds that increasing the availability of broadband is “not only a tremendous equalizer to rural areas, but also especially beneficial to rural areas by ameliorating or eliminating the economic challenges of geographic isolation and economic specialization.”
To connect rural areas, Macher and Mayo focus on wireless broadband, which when it comes to buildout is relatively cheaper for rural areas than wired connections. But the authors also caution that unless policies are enacted that ensure wireless broadband is continued to grow — specifically, the allocation of much-needed spectrum resources — the buildout to every corner of America will be drastically slowed, if not outright impeded. As they write:
[E]ven with the relative advantages of wireless broadband in rural areas, spectrum constraints have slowed the private sector’s ability to deploy wireless broadband in sparsely populated areas. This lag is especially lamentable in light of the high demand for mobility by rural consumers.
Macher and Mayor state they are encouraged by the recent focus on spectrum by policymakers. They also encourage the approval of the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, writing:
[T]he accelerated deployment of broadband promised by the merger may not only facilitate the ability of the mobile telephone industry to better satisfy demand in rural areas, but also serve as an important platform and lubricant for future economic growth in these areas.
The full paper is available on the McDonough School of Business website. You can also download a copy of our rural broadband infographic, “10 Ways Broadband Helps Rural Communities.”
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