Broadband speeds are described in upload and download capabilities measured by the number of bits of data transferred per second and include kilobits (1 thousand bits per second), megabits (1 million bits per second), and gigabits (1 billion bits per second). Download speed refers to the speed at which data is transferred from the Internet to the consumer. Upload speed refers to the speed at which data is transferred from the consumer to the Internet. FCC currently considers speeds of 4 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 1 Mbps upload or greater to be broadband. The speeds required by small businesses vary depending on how the business uses its Internet connection, the number of users, and the number of applications running concurrently, among other factors. Examples of uses supported by different download speeds are described in table 1. Broadband service is provided through a variety of technologies, including: Digital subscriber line (DSL). This service is delivered by local telephone companies over their copper-wire telephone networks used by traditional voice service. Cable modem. This service is delivered by cable operators through the same coaxial cables that deliver sound and pictures to television sets. Fiber optic. Fiber optic technology converts electrical signals carrying data to light and sends the light through transparent glass fibers about the diameter of a human hair. Satellite. This wireless service transmits data to and from subscribers through a receiver dish to a satellite in a fixed position above the equator, eliminating the need for a copper wire or coaxial cable connection. Wireless. Land-mobile or terrestrial broadband service that connects a business or home to the Internet using a radio link. Broadband access can be shared or dedicated. Shared access means users share the connection to the Internet, and thus speeds can be variable based on the number of users accessing the network at one time. Dedicated access provides a reliable point-to-point connection with guaranteed speeds. For some small businesses with the need to send sensitive or large amounts of data, such as financial institutions or medical centers, a dedicated connection or special access line may be beneficial. However, most small businesses do not need such a connection. Broadband Internet access is widely available throughout the United States to both residences and businesses. According to the National Broadband Map, which measures national access to broadband, as of December 2012, approximately 98 percent of the U.S. population had access to wireline or wireless broadband service of 3 Mbps download and 768 kilobits per second (kbps) upload.Office of Advocacy in 2010 similarly found that over 96 percent of urban A study completed for SBA’s small businesses and approximately 92 percent of rural small businesses reported access to wireline or wireless broadband. Still, some areas of the United States remain underserved or unserved by broadband infrastructure. areas. For example, according to data used in the National Broadband Map, nearly 100 percent of urban residents have access to 3 Mbps or higher download speeds, and about 94 percent of nonurban residents have access to such speeds. Likewise, wireline broadband access is available to 99 percent of urban populations and 82 percent of nonurban populations. The unserved and underserved areas that remain in the United States tend to be where conditions increase the cost of broadband deployment, and the difficulty in recouping deployment costs makes it less likely that a service provider will build out or maintain a network. These conditions include: Service gaps exist primarily in nonurban Low population. The limited number of potential subscribers in an area makes it difficult for providers to recoup the costs of building a network. The definitions of unserved and underserved were part of a Notice of Funds Availability announced by NTIA and designed to implement grant programs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 33104, July 9, 2009). The speeds in these definitions are much lower than the FCC’s broadband benchmark of 4 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. According to the Notice of Funds Availability, an unserved area is one in which at least 90 percent of households cannot subscribe to the minimum broadband speed and service, defined as advertised speeds of at least 768 Kbps download and at least 200 Kpbs upload. An underserved area is one in which (1) 50 percent or less of households have access to the minimum broadband speed, (2) no provider offers service speeds of at least 3 Mbps, or (3) 40 percent or less of the households choose to subscribe to a broadband service. The availability of, or adoption rates for, satellite broadband service are not considered in determining whether an area is unserved or underserved. Difficult terrain. Challenging terrain, such as mountains, may increase construction costs for wireline service and can affect wireless service by creating physical barriers or otherwise limiting the ability to transmit data. Natural Disasters. Areas that experience severe weather or natural disasters may lose broadband access temporarily, which increases costs because of the need to repeatedly repair or replace infrastructure. For instance, Hurricane Sandy took down a service provider’s copper lines that provided DSL service for Fire Island, New York. The service provider decided to replace the copper lines with a more costly but resilient fiber network. SBA does not provide funding for broadband deployment. However, it does provide funding to nonprofit Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). SBDCs provide training and education to encourage greater use of broadband. SBA also supports research by its Office of Advocacy on the use and availability of broadband. Congress appropriated funds for the BTOP and BIP programs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. No. 111-5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009)). All funds were obligated prior to the end of fiscal year 2010. In the joint Notice of Funds Availability, NTIA and RUS provided that projects should be completed within 3 years of receiving an award. 74 Fed. Reg. 33104, July 9, 2009. As part of BTOP, in support of broadband adoption, NTIA awarded grants to public computing centers and sustainable broadband adoption projects that funded access to broadband, computer equipment, and job training. The Connect America Fund is part of ongoing Universal Service Fund reform aimed at eventually replacing existing high-cost support mechanisms. The high-cost program within the Universal Service Fund (USF) provides subsidies to telecommunications carriers that serve rural and other remote areas with high costs of providing telephone service. GAO has ongoing work on the USF reforms and their impact on broadband deployment and other issues. Some municipalities also support broadband deployment by funding, building, and operating networks to provide broadband access to their communities, much as some cities offer utilities such as water and electricity. The municipal entity providing this service may be, for example, a department within the city government, or a cooperative formed among several communities. Communities have used federal funds, issued bonds, and taken out loans to fund the construction of municipal broadband networks. In some instances, voter referendums have been required for the city to take out loans or bonds for this purpose. Municipal networks have achieved varying degrees of public acceptance and financial success. In some communities, these networks have been welcomed because they are the only broadband service provider. In other communities, the municipality functions as a competitor to cable and DSL providers and lawsuits have been filed by incumbent service providers to prevent municipalities from building networks. Some states have passed legislation to prevent communities from becoming service providers. Nevada, for instance, prohibits cities with a population of 25,000 or more from selling telecommunications services to the general public. Nebraska prohibits any political subdivision that is not a public power supplier from providing broadband or Internet services. Financially, some municipal networks have been successful while others have struggled to pay off bonds or loans used for capital investment. Federal broadband programs do not target deployment to small businesses. As previously discussed, federal programs target deployment to areas that are unserved or underserved. Many programs do, however, have requirements that can result in networks maximizing the number of small businesses and residences served. For example, USDA’s Community Connect grants require that the service provider offer broadband services to all residences and businesses in the proposed service area. To be eligible for the Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program at least 25 percent of the households in an area must currently be underserved. Thus, the program’s funding supports providers who will serve residences and small businesses in areas of need. Table 3 shows selected federal funding requirements related to eligibility and infrastructure deployment for the six federal programs previously described. Since these programs do not focus on deployment to small businesses, they do not measure their impact on small businesses, including the broadband speeds and prices available to them. However, each program has broader goals and measures, some of which encompass the impact on businesses. For example, BIP supports USDA’s goal to increase the number of rural Americans with access to broadband service and provide the speeds needed by business, health care, public safety, and others. Consistent with this goal, RUS reported in August 2013 that more than 5,800 businesses had received new or improved service as a result of BIP funding since passage of the Recovery Act in 2009, even though BIP does not have specific performance targets regarding services to businesses. BTOP supports NTIA’s strategic goal of driving innovation through policies that enable broadband growth and support e-commerce. Accordingly, NTIA measures the number of community anchor institutions, such as schools and libraries, that received broadband connections through BTOP and the miles of broadband network deployed. NTIA also collected data on interconnection agreements that allow small internet service providers to provide broadband service. According to service providers we spoke with, federal funding was instrumental in their network expansion or upgrade. For example, officials from Monroe Telephone Company in Oregon stated that without the federal support they received through BIP, they would not have expanded their network due to the area’s low population density and mountainous terrain.