Rural telecommunications companies contributed $14.5 billion to the economies of...
Rural telecommunications companies contributed $14.5 billion to the economies of the states in which they operated in 2009, said a Hudson Institute study prepared for the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS). Of that amount, about $10.3 billion was through their…
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own operations and $4.2 billion was through the follow-on impact , the study said. Rural carriers improve economic development in urban areas as well, it said. Some 34 percent of the $14.5 billion final economic demand generated by rural telecom companies accrues to rural areas; the other two-thirds redounds to the growth of urban areas, it said. The rural telecom sector supported 70,700 jobs in 2009, both through its own employment and the employment that its purchases of goods and services generated, the study said. The study argued that the level of economic activity and employment is consistent with the values of access to advanced telecom services, as supported by the Universal Service Fund. If USF support declined or disappeared, companies would raise prices paid by customers and rural users would pay more for telecom services, the study said. Companies would also cut investment, affecting network quality overtime, it said.