Telecommuting to drive broadband in the US
From eMarketer:
July 20, 2004
In-Stat/MDR says that about one-third of the US workforce will telecommute at least part-time in 2004, helping to drive broadband adoption.
US companies are increasingly letting their employees work at home part-time and even full-time. Working from home, especially full-time, gives the employee the opportunity to stay closer to their family, decrease commuting and work in a non-office environment. These factors result in happier employees and perhaps even some savings for employers, as well as greater productivity when employees have the ability to extend their work hours at home to finish an assignment. As a result, some companies are subsidizing the costs of telecommuting, especially broadband service.
Certainly an increase in broadband should also be seen in Canada as well. I also think that there will be spin-off benefits with more people on broadband, there is a larger audience for streaming music, movies, and high-bandwidth applications. Not only the increased need for home-user targeted network gear, anti-virus, firewall, and VPN software.
Additionally I think governments should give tax credits to businesses and individuals who telecommute. Thereby relieving the pressure on highways and the environment.
