The Rural Effect of Broadband Internet Service

Policy makers have been trying to address the shortfall in rural broadband access through a number of legislations. But what is the impact of broadband Internet on rural America? Clearly more activities are shifting to the Internet. Some of these activities have great potential value for the rural economy. Rural economies in the macro sense may benefit from the Internet. The results we obtained from our quasi-experimental design statistical model were consistent with the argument that broadband Internet access has a positive effect on rural communities. Results from the analysis were consistent with the hypothesis that the investment in broadband Internet access leads to a more competitive economy. Further analysis, however, is needed to address the issue of causality much more completely.