Why is Broadband Important
Broadband technology has revolutionized the way services are provided and business is conducted. By improving communication and the flow of information, broadband enhances efficiency, thus, enabling significant advances in Connecticut’s ability to compete in the global economy. This facilitates job creation, decreases health-care costs, reduces miles driven and fossil fuels consumed, expands consumer choice, and improves competition.
As a result, Connecticut’s citizens are beneficiaries of advancements in health care, public safety, energy, government, performance, education, economic development, workforce development, and transportation.
Once one has access to broadband, one perceives it as more of a necessity than luxury. In an online poll measuring the importance to consumers who currently have broadband connections, 85 percent of those polled said they would give up eating out, designer coffee and cable TV before their cell phone and Internet service—demonstrating the importance for one to have broadband Internet access.
Access to broadband increases the ability to use electronic medical records, wireless medical devices, and capacity to collect and analyze patient information.
Broadband can enable a system where first responders nationwide can communicate with each other via public safety wireless communication devices.
Energy
Smart Grid technology, enabled by broadband, provides consumers with real-time energy consumption data, increasing the likelihood of energy conservation. Smart Grid implementation can revolutionize the way people live and function with the appliances and technologies in their homes.
Government
Performance
Broadband facilitates the delivery of e-government services and applications, providing government with more opportunities to communicate with its constituents.
Education
As the content grows on the Internet, more teachers are assigning homework that requires access to the Internet—and using the Internet to enhance and add dimensions to traditional learning techniques at all levels of instruction.
Economic Development
Broadband enables towns, regions, and states to develop, attract, retain, and expand job-creating
businesses and institutions. It enables new business growth and the expansion of existing businesses into new markets.
Fortune 500 companies and government services now require digital literacy for their job applications and Medicare claims, respectively. Possessing digital literacy skills is an essential competency necessary for professional advancement and personal prosperity. Those who do not have access to the Internet are at a disadvantage in the academic arena and the increasingly competitive labor market.
Workforce
Development
Broadband-enabled job-training can customize training so it reaches the broadest group of people
at a lower cost and with greater flexibility than the traditional model of training classes. Broadband enables a workforce system to provide individuals with training and career help in a more flexible and cost-effective manner.
Transportation
Broadband enables technologies that can alleviate congestion, enhance road safety, and reduce the
environmental impact of transportation.
