Rural America is about to get gold-plated broadband service, if the results of a recent survey of telecommunications companies are to be believed. Of the 100 rural operators polled by telecom-equipment maker Calix, nearly two-thirds say they plan to apply for federal stimulus money aimed at getting rural communities hooked up to speedy Internet connections. And most providers say they are looking at deploying super-fast fiber-to-the-home technology instead of the coaxial cable or copper technologies that now serve most urban and suburban US communities. Put another way, rural America has an opportunity to leapfrog more populous towns that got broadband first.
