FCC Gets More Broadband Info
Updated at 3:23 p.m. on Dec. 23.
During a field hearing in Chicago, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski sought input Monday on how broadband can benefit small businesses and how to tackle adoption barriers.
Panelists, which included public officials and small business advocates and owners, said broadband benefits small businesses by lowering costs -- particularly start-up costs, increasing service efficiency, fostering collaborative work including between remote locations, enhancing skills training, and providing businesses access to wider markets.
Genachowski called small businesses "the engine of job creation in the United States," but said that 50 percent have nonetheless failed to create Web sites.
Panelists cited cost, lack of education, and bandwidth deficiency as some of the reasons why small businesses have not embraced broadband more widely. Norma Reyes, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, said one of the key ways to spur wider adoption is to work closely with organizations in local communities to help combat the "fear" of adoption.
CORRECTION: The original version of this report misstated Genachowski's comment about small businesses. Fifty percent have failed to create Web sites.
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Broadband
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