ABSTRACT
This chapter develops and describes a conceptual framework, the Broadband-Business Nexus (BBN), which clarifies the many potential linkages that exist between broadband and businesses all of which take place in a dynamic and constantly evolving landscape of local and regional broadband markets. Many of the potential relationships detailed in it are extremely difficult to identify from the outside, looking in. The chapter reviews the relevant literature concerning information and communications technologies (ICT) and firms. This overview covers broadband availability, adoption, use, productivity, firm location and the impact of these linkages on the economic development prospects of regional economies. A large body of the work on ICT adoption and its associated impacts, particularly the research related to broadband, focuses on individuals and/or households rather than businesses. National level studies of the BBN over time can provide important information about the evolution and relative dynamism of the relationships between businesses and telecommunications provision.
