> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Broadband Access Alone Isn’t Enough for Small Businesses - URL: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/broadband-access-alone-isnt-enough-for-small-businesses/ - Published: 2026-09-14T20:32:05.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-14T20:32:43.000Z - Description: Panelists said small businesses need affordable, reliable service and the skills to use it, not just a connection. - Author: Broadband Breakfast - Tags: Digital Divide, #with-siderail, BBLO, Jeran Culina, Greg Guice, Sammy Lowdermilk, Tyler Martinez, Deb Socia, #no-flux WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2026 — For small businesses, the broadband divide is no longer measured simply by whether a connection reaches the door. The harder questions are whether that connection is affordable and reliable, and whether owners and workers know how to use it. That was the central message from a [Broadband Breakfast Live Online panel](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/broadband-breakfast-on-september-9-2026-small-business-and-broadband/) Wednesday, where speakers said rural manufacturers, neighborhood retailers and independent creators increasingly depend on broadband for everything from payment systems to artificial intelligence. [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/97/29976d9d-89ea-4c77-8c0b-0e8a0eafed35/content/images/2026/08/250150_course_graphic_YT_wordmark_title-1.png)](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/course/#bbb-offer) [***Sign Up for FREE for Section A**](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/course/#bbb-offer) [Sign Up for FREE for Section A ](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/course/#bbb-offer) Moderator **Deb Socia**, former president and CEO of the Enterprise Center, framed the discussion’s central question: “How do availability, adoption and digital skills shape small business growth, and what can providers, policymakers and local leaders do to ensure that small enterprises are not left behind?” A rural factory may need its network around the clock because a disconnected robot can stop an entire production line, said **Jeran Culina**, senior manager for the Business Leaders United network at the National Skills Coalition. “Businesses can have greater broadband needs,” Culina said. “It needs its broadband networks to be very fast and very reliable. That means in the daytime and in the nighttime.” ### *Beyond a line to the building* Residential-grade service may work for some enterprises, but applications involving large files, cloud tools and real-time AI can require faster upload speeds. **Greg Guice**, chief policy officer at broadband consulting firm Vernonburg Group, said the country’s networks and pricing models have long emphasized downloads. “How do we transition to a symmetric broadband economy when we’ve lived for the last 30 years in an asymmetric one?” Guice asked. The problem is visible even in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a city celebrated for fast internet. **Sammy Lowdermilk**, CEO of the Enterprise Center, said entrepreneurs regularly use his organization’s free community space because service at their homes or businesses is inadequate. In nearby rural counties, some older business owners travel to senior centers to hold meetings. “Even though they may have a connection, it may not be robust enough,” Lowdermilk said. “And even if it is robust enough, do they have the digital skills to be able to take advantage of that connection?” Those skills increasingly include AI. Culina described a manufacturer that used it to review 42,000 lines of production data and identify wasted material — an analysis that otherwise would have been overwhelming. His organization also helps artists, musicians and retailers set up sales systems, market online and learn cybersecurity. “They don’t have an IT department that they can rely on to fix problems when they arise,” Lowdermilk said. ### *Affordability and local capacity* As federal deployment programs push networks farther into unserved areas, speakers said policy should begin shifting from availability alone to adoption and affordability. “It’s becoming more an affordability problem,” said **Tyler Martinez**, director of litigation at the NTUF Taxpayer Defense Center. “We’re getting there to where we get everybody connected in one way or another.” To lower costs, Martinez called for consolidating overlapping programs and reducing permitting barriers. He also backed “dig once” approaches that place conduit whenever a road or trench is already open, reducing the cost of later broadband expansion. But small towns often lack full-time permitting staffs, while small companies may not have time to navigate grants or advocate before state broadband offices. Guice said federal money could help local governments digitize permitting systems and hire temporary staff rather than merely imposing deadlines they cannot meet. For representation, Culina urged support for chambers and other intermediaries that can aggregate small-business needs. “There should be more of these intermediaries in between so that small businesses’ voices are actually heard in these conversations,” she said. Federal and state action cannot replace local initiative, Lowdermilk added. Free meeting space, workshops and even a police-monitored parking lot for safe online marketplace exchanges can make a difference. “Nothing is too small to help our small businesses,” he said. The panel’s message was that broadband policy should treat connectivity as productive infrastructure, not a household amenity. A line may reach a community, but small businesses cannot turn it into growth without affordable service, practical skills and local institutions capable of helping them use it.