WISPAPALOOZA Show Daily - Day 1

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It’s no secret that broadband penetration in rural
areas lags behind that of more populated areas,
as a study from Journal of Rural Health points out.
And, that gap is widening.
Between 2010 and 2014, healthcare facilities in
metro areas saw their rates of “very fast” connections
grow significantly, from 14 percent to 55 percent,
while facilities in non-metro areas saw a much
smaller increase (from 5 percent to 12 percent).
Similarly, the percentage of metro facilities with
“very slow” connections decreased from 33 percent
to 11 percent, but non-metro connections of this
type had a much slower decline (from 38 percent to
28 percent).
According to the FCC, almost half (46 percent)
of the U.S. landmass is made up of farmland—but
these areas are woefully underserved by broadband.
Agriculture makes up 5 percent of the 2.2 million
farms in America, employing 21 million Americans,
which is 15 percent of the total workforce and six
times what the auto industry employs.
But, rural America is losing population thanks
to a lack of technology, which is translating into
economic declines. According to the 2010 U.S.
Census, about 20 percent of Americans lived in rural
communities. Just five years later, it’s less than 15
percent.
That means that businesses will abandon plans
to open new plants or offices because of a lack of
workers, which in turn reduces the tax base, which in
turn reduces the ability to pay for new technologies.
Those are the very technologies that allow
innovation in, healthcare, education and distance-
learning, telemedicine and more.
The Journal of Rural Health study goes on to
show that the connected healthcare gap is primarily
driven by non-hospital facilities, like private
practices, health departments, pharmacies, clinics.
The rate of growth for hospital connections between
2010 and 2014 is actually quite similar between
metro and non-metro areas.
The FCC has recommended that primary care
practices have speeds of at least 4Mbps and that small
primary care practices, nursing homes and rural health
clinics have speeds of at least 10Mbps in order to keep
upwith life-saving healthcare innovations.
It’s also worth noting that the faster the
broadband, the better the economic outcomes: A
study from the FTTH Council last year found that
communities with widely-available gigabit access
have per capita GDP that is 1.1 percent higher than
communities with little to no availability of gigabit
services.
The study examined 55 communities in nine
states, finding a positive impact on economic
activity in the 14 communities where gigabit
services are widely available. That plays out in
multiple ways, including through the direct
effect of infrastructure investment and increased
expenditures, as well as shifts in economic activity
(e.g. job creation and occupational changes) and
productivity gains.
“Gigabit communities are empowered
communities,” said FTTH Council president Heather
Gold.
The study shows that gigabit translates to a per
capita GDP approximately 1.1 percent higher than
the similar communities with little to no availability of
gigabit services. In dollar terms, this suggests that the
14 gigabit broadband communities studied enjoyed
approximately $1.4 billion in additional GDP when
gigabit broadband became widely available. o
8 WISPAPALOOZA 2016 • OCTOBER 11-13, 2016
DAY1
Rural Broadband Heathcare GapWidens
By Tara Seals
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