Report: Faster broadband does not equate to greater productivity
This report suggests to me that it is a tactical decision to get businesses onto broadband, either copper or fiber - (moving faster) but it is still a strategic decision to invest in fiber infrastructure (what method has greatest future potential).
Amplify’d from computerworld.co.nz
The report, The Need for Speed: Impacts of Internet Connectivity on Firm Productivity which studied 6,000 New Zealand businesses, found while broadband adoption did boost productivity, no productivity differences where found across different types of broadband.
The implication — that high speed broadband delivered by the NBN may not result in greater productivity than that which is facilitated by current broadband speeds
“Our estimates show that all these productivity gains can be attributed to adoption of slow relative to no broadband, with no discernible additional effect arising from a shift from slow to fast broadband.”
The report’s authors, which include NZ Reserve Bank chair Dr Arthur Grimes, wrote that despite well-articulated pleas for upgraded internet access, reference to rigorous research that quantifies benefits actually accruing from network upgrades is generally absent in supporting materials. Read more at computerworld.co.nz
