- July 9, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
What GAO Found
While most small businesses have access to broadband, millions of small businesses continue to lack sufficient access to meet their needs. According to two recent surveys by the National Federation of Independent Business and Google, around 8 percent or about 2-3 million U.S. small business lack access to broadband. Small businesses likely benefit from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) and the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) funding to expand broadband deployment. For example, FCC estimated that approximately $9.2 billion allocated for broadband infrastructure in 2020 will serve over 5.2 million residences and businesses.
Much of the literature GAO reviewed suggests that FCC’s current broadband minimum benchmark speeds—25 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloading and 3 Mbps for uploading—are likely too slow to meet many small business speed needs. The figure below illustrates the various kinds of business…
