Broadband Investment and Business

According to an April 6 Associated Press report, AT&T just announced that “it would invest $1 billion to upgrade its business network, services and products for large companies worldwide as well as for small U.S. firms, a sweeping enhancement of its systems as network traffic in global economies migrate from voice to video and data.”

The report noted that this would bring AT&T’s tally on expenditures to upgrade its systems for over 3.5 million businesses to more than $4 billion since 2006. The announced changes would include boosting U.S. broadband speeds, laying underwater cables to enhance international data flow capacity, increasing mobile broadband services, and expanding cloud computing efforts.

That’s all good news for consumers, including small businesses, as services and choices grow.

What needs to be watched is that government does not get in the way through unwarranted regulations and mandates, such as on the net neutrality regulation front. Such government interference would only serve to discourage investment and innovation.

Raymond J. Keating
Chief Economist
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council