Study shows rural broadband's return on investment

Blandin Foundation chart; click on the image to enlarge it.

"A new study commissioned by the Blandin Foundation may help small communities put some hard numbers behind broadband’s public benefit," Tim Marema reports for The Daily Yonder. "Return on Investment: Measuring Impact of Broadband in Five Rural Minnesota Communities" looks at places that have spent public funds on building out networks. The words 'high speed' are critical. These communities have run fiber to homes and businesses or have plans to do so in the near future."

The five areas studied (Beltrami, Crow Wing, Goodhue, Lake County and Sibley County) benefited about $150 million annually, along with a $450 million increase in real-estate values, the study concluded. Marema cautions that the estimates vary widely among the different communities and that they don't provide a complete picture of the impact of broadband, but it clearly shows that broadband is a good investment of public money. Read more here.