The faster your broadband, the higher your income

bealtine

http://gigaom.com/2013/09/17/the-faster-your-broadband-the-higher-your-income/

SUMMARY:
Faster broadband isn’t just something to brag about, it gives you an economic edge. Data from Ericsson suggests a boost from 4 MBps to 8Mbps leads to a $120 rise in monthly income.

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Boosting broadband speeds is correlated with a higher income in developed countries according to Ericsson, which makes telecommunications equipment. A bump from 4 Mbps, which is the U.S. definition of broadband to 8 Mbps is tied to an increase of $120 per month in OECD countries.

In Brazil, India and China — countries with a less developed broadband infrastructure — speeds boosts of 512 kbps to 4Mbps offers a $46 monthly increase in income. The greatest boost in those countries comes from going from no internet access to 512 kbps which is correlated with a $70 increase in household income per month.

ericssonspeedIn OECD countries the biggest benefit from a speed boost comes when homes go from no broadband to 4 Mbps, gaining about $322 per month. Importantly, the study notes that the benefits of broadband speed increases vary by country and also increase in a step progression. They are not linear, which can make it hard to track. Also here is a minimum broadband access and speed level required in order to gain any benefit, and that benefit will likely require higher speeds over time.

While Ericsson clearly has an economic incentive to push faster broadband (generally that leads to equipment expenditures) the company has made an effort to explain why broadband matters for citizens and countries in a series of research projects over the last several years. For this study, conducted in 2011, Ericsson looked at 33 countries and worked with Arthur D. Little and Chalmers University of Technology.

It makes intuitive sense that boosting broadband speeds and access to broadband should drive up income. Broadband offers people more access to information — be it lower prices for goods or more job listings. While not everyone can save money by telecommuting, the ability to connect with loved ones over cheaper connections is a plus as is the ability to gain access to knowledge that might someone advance in their profession.

Plus more and more government services, a variety of bills, employee benefits programs and even children’s homework are all moving online. To not have access means you can’t keep up. Ericsson breaks down the benefits of broadband into short, medium and long-term benefits, and cautions policy makers that they should focus on expanding penetration before focusing on speed, but that speed does matter.

TommiesTank

Where do they come up with this tripe?

bealtine

TommiesTank wrote: »

Where do they come up with this tripe?

which bit is tripe? Unless you can come up with a coherent and logical response don't bother just shouting

TommiesTank

bealtine wrote: »

which bit is tripe? Unless you can come up with a coherent and logical response don't bother just shouting

Your headline grabbing thread title for one. Say my salary is 20k, if I double my broadband speed it will magically be 40k?

seamus

Is the cart before the horse though.

Do people have better broadband speeds because they have a higher income or do people have a higher income because they have better broadband.

Similarly, average incomes in cities are typically much larger than outside of them. Likewise, average broadband speeds in cities are much higher because there's greater demand and it's cheaper on a per-install basis.

There's a correlation, but not necessarily causation.

I don't disagree with the gist of the idea - that those with better access to the web have greater opportunities, but I'm skeptical about this finding that boosting someone's internet speed will increase their income.

bealtine

seamus wrote: »

There's a correlation, but not necessarily causation.

I don't disagree with the gist of the idea - that those with better access to the web have greater opportunities, but I'm skeptical about this finding that boosting someone's internet speed will increase their income.

Well many times the idea that broadband boosts economic growth has been shown to be mostly correct so while the piece is a bit fluffy and a plea to please buy our stuff, the essential point remains that access to better broadband "lifts all boats".

The OECD continuously makes the same point and have even calculated it out.

The World Bank had this to say : that for “every 10-percentage-point increase in penetrations of broadband services, there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points”.

bealtine

TommiesTank wrote: »

Your headline grabbing thread title for one. Say my salary is 20k, if I double my broadband speed it will magically be 40k?

Obviously a comprehension deficit there....the piece on the first line says "Data from Ericsson suggests a boost from 4 MBps to 8Mbps leads to a $120 rise in monthly income."

Where does it say it will double your income?

TommiesTank

bealtine wrote: »

Obviously a comprehension deficit there....the piece on the first line says "Data from Ericsson suggests a boost from 4 MBps to 8Mbps leads to a $120 rise in monthly income."

Where does it say it will double your income?

My current income is $120 per month, it says it will lead to a rise of $120, thereby doubling.

smee again

TommiesTank wrote: »

My current income is $120 per month, it says it will lead to a rise of $120, thereby doubling.

Average my friend. It's a statistic. Your current income could fall and the average income for the area could still rise. Businesses seek to setup and move to areas with better infrastructure (not just broadband), therefore increasing the average income figure of the area. Invest in infrastructure and in time the average income of the area will rise

TommiesTank

It's BS is what it is.

smee again

TommiesTank wrote: »

It's BS is what it is.

Sounds like you don't fully understand, calling it BS without putting forward any sort of argument.

So you don't believe there is a difference in the average wage between rural and metropolitan areas?

TommiesTank

smee again wrote: »

Sounds like you don't fully understand, calling it BS without putting forward any sort of argument.

So you don't believe there is a difference in the average wage between rural and metropolitan areas?

Read the thread title and try to tell me it is accurate while keeping a straight face.

smee again

TommiesTank wrote: »

Read the thread title and try to tell me it is accurate while keeping a straight face.

As always on IrelandOffline, it's the title of the article being quoted

http://gigaom.com/2013/09/17/the-faster-your-broadband-the-higher-your-income/

BonkeyDonker

So does this mean that UPC has made us all millionaires???

smee again

BonkeyDonker wrote: »

So does this mean that UPC has made us all millionaires???

It's most likely contributed to an increase in the average income in the areas as people can better work from home and business can be ran from home. I do agree the figures suggested in the article may be very optimistic, but it's not BS.

bealtine

http://irelandoffline.org/2013/05/lack-of-broadband-and-what-it-actually-means/

Do try to keep up tommytank, either explain why it's BS or you just look like a moron or troll