Groups looking to free up more spectrum for broadband
released a report saying a small business start-up could save over $16,000 by
using high-speed broadband.
Saying broadband was an entrepreneurship booster, something
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has long espoused, the Internet Innovation
Alliance (AT&T and fiber supplier Corning are members) and the Small
Business and Entrepreneurship Council broke out the savings. The report
estimated the cost of high-speed at $490.
The report put the total savings ($16,550.52) at about
33.37% of the total start-up cost.
They include on printing services, Web and logo design,
office space vs. working out of the home, travel costs and newspaper
subscriptions.
The report said broadband would reduce start-up costs, thus
lowering barriers to entry and freeing up more money for revenue-generation and
preserving capital for future investment.
"Now more than ever we need more spectrum in the hands of
those actually serving our entrepreneurs, to ensure robust and reliable
Internet service," said Internet Innovation Alliance co-chair Bruce
Mehlman in a statement. "Policies that allow the markets to deploy these
resources to their highest and best use, rather than politicians' preferences,
will lead to a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem - that means more innovation,
more jobs, more cost-savings for consumers and more start-up businesses in the
United States."
