High-speed broadband a lifeline for rural America

[Commentary] Most of the people I know who choose to live in rural America happily do without the conveniences of the cities and suburbs in order to enjoy the benefits of rural life. In today’s world, though, high-speed broadband networks are far more than a convenience for rural America. To forego the benefits that state-of-the-art broadband networks bring would limit the potential of small towns and rural counties that deserve to be equal beneficiaries of the technology revolution that’s being made possible by the transition away from legacy analog copper wire-based networks and to high-speed next generation Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks.

Wireless broadband is a natural solution for rural areas because it doesn’t involve running miles of expensive fiber-optic cable across thinly populated swaths of land. To encourage more of this kind of private investment in rural districts, federal and state policy makers need to trim cumbersome regulations written back in the days when telecommunications was limited to voice phone calls over antiquated networks with only one provider. With today’s many choices in communications delivery, the sweeping advances in IP communications technology make that era look like the Stone Age, and Stone Age regulations are a hindrance in the Information Age. Removing barriers to investment and modernization of our networks and accelerating the spread of advanced broadband networks is a crucial issue for the whole country. But nobody has a bigger stake in seeing it happen than the 50 million of us who live in rural America.

[Ashley McMillan is executive director of Partnership for Technology Innovation]