That is according to a study conducted by the Communications of Workers of America that also studied U.S.’s rank in terms of Internet speed.
According to the study, for every $5 billion invested in U.S. broadband infrastructure, a total of approximately 97,500 new jobs in the telecommunications, computer and IT sectors will also be created.
The study also found out that the U.S. ranks 28th out of all the countries surveyed based on how fast their Internet connection is. And the Broadband connection speed has increased from 3.5 Mbps in 2007 to a whooping 5.1 Mbps this year. Wow! That’s a 1.6 Mbps increase. We should be celebrating…not.
“Every American should have affordable access to high-speed Internet, no matter where they live. This is essential to economic growth and will help maintain our global competitiveness,” Larry Cohen, Communications Workers of America president said in a statement. “Unfortunately, fragmented government programs and uneven private sector responses to build out Internet access have left a digital divide across the country.”
A provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is calling for a national broadband plan by spring of next year. The proponents believe that this plan would serve as a job creation vehicle for the IT sector as well as the tool for bringing high-speed Internet access to rural and remote parts of the United States.
Source: http://www.crn.com/networking/219500093;jsessionid=U5IS2BUU0BA4LQE1GHPCKH4ATMY32JVN
