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Planning & Development
eCommonwealth
Telecommunications infrastructure is critical for long-term economic growth, business attraction, job creation and retention, and a high quality of life. The eCommonwealth Program was established to educate communities in the importance of broadband access in economic vitality. Broadband opens avenues for online education, telemedicine, e-commerce, and telecommuting options, as well as creating a knowledgeable and productive workforce. Sufficient and affordable broadband service helps make community and government services more effective, workforces more attractive and marketplaces more competitive. There are also more opportunities available for adult vocational training and educating children to maintain the highly skilled workforce that is needed to be competitive in a global economy.
According to a broadband strategies report completed for the Southwestern Pennsylvania region, customer aggregation and community investment are key advantages to sufficient and affordable broadband service. Having community-owned telecommunications infrastructure is an investment into the community. For example, building an integrated fiber and wireless system to every home and business allows the community to maximize the market potential for private providers who want to sell services. The community investment allows these businesses to reach more customers than any single company could reach on its own. Service aggregation occurs when communities build open service provider networks. This means that any qualified service provider can offer services using the community digital roadway. The outcomes are more services, more customers, and lower costs.
The following reports provide additional information on telecommunications infrastructure and recommendations for the region.
