News
A study conducted by the Fiber Broadband Association has revealed the extent of fiber broadband’s impact in Charlottesville, Virginia.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Collectively, fiber broadband brought $4 million annually, on average, to aggregate property values in Charlottesville, Virginia, a new study has revealed.
The study, a community profile published by the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA), also credited fiber broadband with fueling more than a third of the community’s job growth between 2015 and 2019.
According to the case study, a white paper which was published on the FBA’s website, Charlottesville was selected to be profiled because of that community’s “decade-long relationship with fiber.”
Fiber was first deployed to the city, in Albemarle County, in 2014 by the predecessor of Ting Internet, according to the case study.
Studying the changes following the introduction of fiber to the landscape in Charlottesville, the study concluded that “deployment of fiber has delivered significant and measurable economic benefits to the city and the surrounding area.”
The case study also attributed growth in Charlottesville’s business sectors to, partly, the availability of fiber broadband.
By the end of this year, Albemarle County expects that all of its households and businesses will be able to access high-speed broadband, the white paper stated.
It’s a feat that, according to the case study, “would not be possible without the efforts of Ting as the anchor of connectivity for the region and complemented by efforts from Firefly Fiber Broadband, Brightspeed, and other fiber carriers serving the citizens of the county.”
Fiber drove private sector growth in Charlottesville
“Publicly available data and recent academic research show that fiber has accounted for roughly 35 percent of Charlottesville’s private sector job growth between 2015-2019,” a summary of the case study read.
According to the case study, Charlottesville also “continues to show impressive growth” in comparison to other Virginia cities, “especially in higher-paying professional, scientific, and technical jobs.”
While the study picked up a noticeable boost in property values and Charlottesville’s commercial tax base in the years after fiber deployment, the case study warned that property value rises won’t be as noticeable in years to come.
“With the proliferation of fiber throughout the city limits and spreading to the surrounding county, the increase in housing value on a percentage basis will not be as dramatic in the future, since fiber will not be a differentiator as nearly all households will have it,” the case study’s conclusion stated.
Deborah Kish, the FBA’s VP of research and workforce development, commented on the case study in a follow-up release from the FBA on Monday.
“Charlottesville’s experience demonstrates how long-term investment in fiber infrastructure benefits both urban and rural areas, creating opportunities for businesses, entrepreneurs and families alike,” Kish said.
Click here to read the FBA’s full case study about Charlottesville, Virginia.
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