Broadband/ICT Sectors Added $1 Trillion to GDP in 2014, Study Says

Broadband and information communications technologies (ICT) produced $1.02 trillion in value to the U.S. economy in 2014, or about 5.9 percent of gross domestic product, but that likely understates the impact, said a study issued Thursday by the Internet Innovation Alliance. Broadband and ICT companies employed 4.93 million workers (full-time equivalents), with an average annual compensation of $104,390, said the study by Kevin Hassett, an American Enterprise Institute resident scholar, and Robert Shapiro, chairman of Sonecon, an economic advisory firm. “The large economic gains associated with the broadband and ICT sector have flourished in an environment of light federal regulation,” said Hassett and Shapiro. They said recent FCC regulatory moves targeting "broadband ISPs and their service offerings would stifle broadband/ICT sector investment, growth and employment, negatively impacting the American economy.”