Rural broadband v. state-wide franchising lobbyists

RURAL BROADBAND V STATE-WIDE FRANCHISING LOBBYISTS
[SOURCE: Facing South, AUTHOR: R Neal]
[Commentary] Remember FDR's rural electrification? It transformed the South, or at least the Appalachian Tennessee Valley for every future generation. While broadband Internet access isn't quite on par with electricity as a basic human need in modern society, it's almost as important, especially in terms of U.S. global competitiveness. Local governments who control the infrastructure rights of way have a duty to make sure those resources benefit all their citizens and taxpayers. They also know best which areas are underserved (which are all too frequently rural, low-income, or predominately minority communities), and they are more likely to negotiate build-out requirements to ensure that every resident has access. It's unlikely that a bureaucrat in Nashville will know or even care about the needs of Bell Buckle or Ducktown TN, and even less likely that anyone at a communications giant's corporate headquarters has even heard of such places.
http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2007/02/rural-broadband-v-state-w...