If Wall St. Doesn't Want Carriers To Go Rural, Why Should We?

[Commentary] Wally Bowen, executive director at the Mountain Area Information Network, asks, "Why are we trying to figure out how to get the carriers to deploy next-generation broadband to rural America when Wall St. doesn't want them there?" Wall St. still doesn't think upgrading broadband networks anywhere makes much financial sense and if carriers are going to invest in capacity anywhere then it certainly shouldn't be in rural America. In their eyes those dollars are better spent in metro areas even if there's greater competition simply because there's a higher density of people. And for better or worse, big corporations must listen to the desires of their shareholders. If we only look at this rural broadband problem through the eyes of the incumbents then it does look like a huge challenge that's going to require an equally huge government investment. But if we take a step back for a moment and consider the broader array of deployers who have already been wiring rural America we'll see that there could be a better way.