A new kind of Digital Divide

A NEW KIND OF DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: Minnesota Public Radio, AUTHOR: Sanden Totten]
The so-called digital divide has threatened to leave rural areas behind. But last year rural America made some headway on the issue according to a study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Windom, Minnesota is a perfect example. Three years ago it would have been the kind of town people feared would be left out of the digital revolution. When Windom's dominant phone company, Qwest, decided against setting up a broadband network a few years back, the town had a choice: get with the digital revolution on its own or be left in the dust. They chose to build Windomnet. It launched a little over a year ago and it cost close to 10 million dollars. But towns without a strong telecommunications back-bone don't have much of a future.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/01/16/close_divide/