On February 7, the Fiber Broadband Association published a case study report, "Fiber Anchors Sustained Economic Development, Charlottesville, Virginia." The report examined the impact of fiber broadband network deployment on the greater Charlottesville area, focusing on three economic indicators: private sector job growth, housing value, and digital microbusiness density. According to the report: "Availability of high-speed, low-latency broadband accounted for roughly 35% of Charlottesville's private sector job growth during 2015-2019." The report also credits fiber deployment with increased housing values in the area. And it emphasized the benefits of fiber for "microbusinesses" that have 10 or fewer employees, a domain, and an active website. The findings of the report are based, at least in part, on a comparison of the economic activity of Charlottesville compared with similar-sized cities in Virginia.
The economic benefits, including job creation, of next-generation broadband networks is also the subject of previous studies. For instance, other analysts have observed the positive economic impact from deployment of 4G and 5G wireless networks and 5G networks.
Local communities hoping to timely realize the full potential of fiber networks for creating jobs and economic opportunities for their residents – similar to how Charlottesville, Virginia, appears to have benefitted – should have in place wireline infrastructure siting policies, including for access to public rights-of-way, that enable timely permit application processing, with permit fees that limited to covering review and processing costs.
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