The FCC should review the broadband speed needs of small businesses. That’s according to the Government Accountability Office.
While most small businesses have access to broadband, millions of small businesses continue to lack sufficient access to meet their needs, according to the GAO. It cites two recent surveys by the National Federation of Independent Business and Google. Those say around eight percent, or about 2-3 million U.S. small businesses lack access to broadband.
Small businesses likely benefit from the FCC and the Department of Agriculture’s funding to expand broadband deployment. For example, the FCC estimated that approximately $9.2 billion allocated for broadband infrastructure in 2020, will serve over 5.2 million residences and businesses.
In a new report, the GAO said much of the literature it reviewed suggests that the Commission’s current broadband minimum benchmark speeds—25 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloading and 3 Mbps for uploading—are likely too slow to meet many small business speed needs.
Sources vary in terms of the specific speeds they recommend for small businesses. For example, in 2017, BroadbandUSA—a National Telecommunications and Information Administration program—published a fact sheet stating that small businesses need a minimum of 50 Mbps speeds in order to conduct tasks such as managing inventory, operating point-of-sale terminals, and coordinating shipping. A 2019 USDA report on rural broadband and agriculture stated that, as technology advances and volumes of data needed to manage agriculture production grow, speeds in excess of 25/3 Mbps with more equal download and upload speeds will likely be necessary.
The GAO recommends the FCC solicit input from relevant stakeholders and analyze small business broadband speed needs; it should incorporate what it learns into the agency’s broadband speed benchmarks, recommends the GAO. The Commission agreed with the recommendation.
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