You Snooze, You Lose: 7th Floor Media Studies the Economic Impacts of\nBroadband Access
VANCOUVER September 5, 2005
In July and August 2005, Julie Zilber of 7th Floor Media at Simon Fraser University, Phillip Djwa of the BC3, and independent economist David Schneider undertook a study of subscribers to two remote and rural broadband networks in British Columbia - the Peace Region Internet Society (PRIS) network in the Peace River region of north-eastern British Columbia and the China Creek ISP in the South Similkameen region of south-central British Columbia. The goal of the study was to try to measure the economic impact of broadband access in those regions. Their report "You Snooze, You Lose: The Economic Impact of Broadband in the Peace River and South Similkameen Regions" is now available online.
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Key findings:
- Over 80% of all business respondents reported that absence of broadband would affect their businesses negatively. Over 18% of all business respondents stated they could not operate their businesses without broadband.
- 62% of pre-existing businesses indicated that their productivity has gone up as a result of broadband, with a majority indicating an increase in productivity of more than 10%.
- Many businesses reported increases in pre-tax income and/or decreases in operating costs due to broadband connectivity.
- 15% of residential broadband subscribers reported that their household income has increased and 39% report that their household expenses have decreased due to residential broadband connectivity.
- Almost 75% of residential respondents reported that broadband connectivity at their place of work was critical for one or more members of their household.
The results of this study suggest that, whether broadband connectivity is resulting in increased business income or simply allowing businesses to maintain income, broadband has become an important factor in allowing businesses to remain competitive. Or, stated in another way, without broadband access businesses in remote & rural communities would be at a competitive disadvantage. As one respondent put it, "Broadband is no longer a luxury service. In today's world it is an essential utility such as the telephone and electric power has been in the past. Most businesses in today's world would be at a major disadvantage if they do not have broadband accessibility." You snooze, you lose.
You can read the report here.