“…Broadband provides the gateway for business growth, job creation and

the ability to compete globally— this is especially true in rural America.”

WASHINGTON – House Small Business Healthcare and Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman Renee Ellmers (R-NC) today held a hearing to examine the growth and importance of broadband to small businesses, including the role of the federal government in providing access to rural America. 

The Federal Communications Commission estimates that 97 percent of small businesses use some form of broadband applications to strengthen their operations. However, a recent survey by the Small Business Administration showed that almost half of rural businesses are not satisfied with their current Internet speed. The survey also stated that small businesses desire more choice among broadband services.

“There is no doubt that broadband has the potential to completely transform the way small companies do business,” said Ellmers. “From increasing bookkeeping efficiency to global video conferencing to boosting online sales— broadband provides the gateway for business growth, job creation and the ability to compete globally— this is especially true in rural America.

“Unfortunately, just as we heard from our witnesses today, rural America has a severe shortage of network infrastructure that greatly limits small businesses from fully utilizing broadband services. Increasing broadband to everyone in America is something we can all agree on, however, we must enact policies that incentivize private sector investment— not obstruct or delay it.” 

In order to ensure the federal government does not impose penalties and fees on health care providers who are not yet able to e-Prescribe due to their lack of broadband infrastructure, Ellmers introduced the Stripping the E-Prescribe Arbitrary Mandate Act of 2011(H.R. 2128).

For related hearing documents, click here.

Notable Witness Quotes:

Mitzie S. Branon, General Manager at Yadkin Valley Telecom in Yadkinville, North Carolina, said, “If businesses want to reach today’s consumers, then they must have access to robust, reliable broadband.” She went on to say, “To not have access to high-speed Internet in this day and age is unimaginable to most people, but as many as 24 million Americans—one in thirteen of us—live in areas where there is no access to any broadband network.”

Rebecca Sanders, Indiana Telehealth Network Director at Indiana Rural Health Association in Plainfield, IN, said, “In many parts of Indiana, patients have no local access to specialists in critical fields, such as radiology, cardiology, and neurology and must travel great distances, often in very fragile health, to obtain those services. When adequate broadband is available in rural areas, patients are able to access specialists via telemedicine while staying in their local communities. This results in time savings to the patients through reduced travel, and higher laboratory and radiology revenues to the local healthcare providers who would have lost those revenues to the urban healthcare provider.”

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For more information, please visit Congresswoman Ellmers’ website at www.ellmers.house.gov or call (202) 225-4531.

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter @RepReneeEllmers

Tom Doheny

Press Secretary

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers R-NC-2

Washington, DC