Why Small Businesses Need More Fiber — and Why Communities Should Care

Author: Brad Broadwell

I recently attended the North Carolina Rural Summit in Raleigh, NC with well over 800 attendees engaging in discussions about their Infrastructure and Connectivity.  North Carolina isn’t chasing economic development — it’s dictating the tempo. The state has become the place where serious industries land when they want execution, not excuses. Yet, I found that more than half of North Carolina’s rural counties still lack the fiber density required to support modern small‑business growth, remote work, and cloud‑based operations.  That tension is becoming one of the most overlooked economic development risks of the next decade. 

ECC Tech has found that even the smallest firms run bandwidth‑heavy tools: cloud accounting, AI‑enabled customer service, telehealth platforms, logistics systems, remote work, and real‑time inventory. The internet is no longer just a utility; it’s the backbone of modern commerce. Yet the cost of accessing enterprise‑grade fiber which small businesses need to access, continues to rise, and the gap between what small businesses need and what they can afford is also widening. 

Recent industry data shows why Fiber deployment costs have climbed due to labor and material pressures, with underground builds continually rising year‑over‑year and labor accounting for up to 80% of total cost. Those costs are passed along and being picked up by business and other users downstream. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) economic impact models make clear that broadband availability and reliability directly shape local business formation, workforce participation, and long‑term competitiveness. 

The paradox? Even as costs rise, demand is accelerating. Small businesses now rely on broadband at rates unimaginable a decade ago — 83.9% have access to high‑speed terrestrial broadband, up from 48.1% in 2014. But access isn’t the same as capacity. Many are still operating on consumer‑grade connections that buckle under modern workloads. 

This is where proactive communities will have a strategic opening. 

Small businesses often don’t know they can negotiate dedicated builds, coordinate multi‑tenant upgrades, or leverage local partnerships to reduce costs. Economic developers can play a role by organizing demand, mapping readiness, and helping providers see the business case for small‑business districts — not just large enterprise parks. 

Because the truth is simple: fiber isn’t just infrastructure. It’s a growth engine. Counties with stronger broadband access see faster rates of small‑business formation, higher productivity, and more resilient local economies. 

If we want our communities to grow through small businesses development, we need to help them innovate, hire, and compete, and need to provide opportunity to navigate 21st‑century markets and not on 20th‑century infrastructure. The communities that recognize this — and act on it — will be the ones that win the next decade of economic development.