Broadband Stimulus

TMC's blog pans the broadband stimulus package. Yes, Junction Networks is a technology company and yes, we would, in theory, benefit from comprehensive broadband access. However, I think that the post misses the point.

The post states: "I just don't think broadband is that vital that we need to spend billions of tax payer dollars when we are a fiscal crisis, the stock market is imploding, and the deficit is shooting through the roof." He goes on to say that only a few companies will be helped by spending on broadband. I disagree. Not only will a very wide range of existing companies be directly helped by widely available broadband, but a whole set of products and services run by new companies that don't even exist today will be created which will, in turn, create more jobs and opportunities for US citizens.

The best example I can think of is the addition of GPS functionality to mobile phones. Before my iPhone had GPS, I never considered what having an always-available GPS functionality really meant. Now, I can't believe I lived that long with out it. Broadband everywhere will have the same effect. We will have a hard time remembering a time when not everyone had broadband access everywhere. Today, my kids can't believe that when I grew up there was no Internet. Look at what the Internet has done for productivity and job creation in a relatively short time span. Hopefully, my grand-kids will be just as shocked that their parents only had broadband access at home and not every home had broadband. One can only hope.