A new report by the General Accounting Office (pdf) (GAO) found that in areas where the government invested stimulus dollars to shore up middle and last mile infrastructure, businesses were unsurprisingly able to receive faster and less expensive broadband than elsewhere.
The funds, which have been delivered via the FCC, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service, often shore up infrastructure in places where private investment has stalled, either due to a lack of competition or rural deployment challenges.
"GAO examined broadband services for 14 federally funded and municipal networks and found they tended to have higher speeds than other networks," notes the report. "For example, in 9 of the 14 communities where GAO collected information on broadband speeds and prices, federally funded or municipal networks offered higher top speeds than other networks in the same community and networks in nearby communities."
Prices similarly saw a slight decline in those same markets. The result, insists the GAO, is more efficient regional small business operations. The lion's share of the funding came courtesy of the $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress in 2009.
"According to small businesses GAO met with, the speed and reliability of their broadband service improved after they began using federally funded or municipal networks," says the report. "Furthermore, according to small business owners, the improvements to broadband service have helped the businesses improve efficiency and streamline operations."