Broadband Communities
Does Poor Broadband Deter Telemedicine Adoption?
Access to health care is a critical problem in many rural areas of the United States. Few physicians choose to practice in rural counties, according to the National Rural Health Association, yet the rural population is, on average, older and more in need of medical care. Census Bureau data show that 18 percent of the rural population is age 65 or older, compared with 13 percent in urban areas. Rural clinics and hospitals are consolidating or closing, leaving people to drive long distances to see doctors. Policymakers are counting on telemedicine to fill in the gaps.
Why Broadband Should Be a Utility
Fiber cities know the difference between publicly overseen networks, aimed at providing a utility service, and wholly private, “demand-driven” communications networks. There is no single meaning of the word utility, but the concept is familiar to many people. The basic idea is that a utility is a service that 1) relies on a physical network of some kind and 2) is a basic input into both domestic and economic life. A utility is not a luxury.
States Make the Right Moves
California, Washington and Indiana recently enacted legislation to help facilitate community broadband networks:
Cooperatives and Rural Broadband
Underserved communities can provide broadband for themselves through nonprofit, cooperative entities. Many co-ops that were originally set up to provide phone service and distribute electricity now deliver broadband as well. Rural electric and telephone cooperatives are fiberizing rural America. Following are a few examples of the hundreds of successful cooperative projects.
Communities Join Forces For Broadband
Regional efforts to develop broadband infrastructure are becoming more common.
Broadband’s Impact In Five Rural Minnesota Communities (Broadband Communities)
Submitted by benton on Thu, 01/25/2018 - 11:36Building the Broadband Economy
In eastern Kentucky, the collapse of the coal industry, long a major employer, created severe economic hardship. Though a successor to coal hasn’t yet emerged, government agencies and economic development organizations at all levels are aware that the region needs to participate more fully in the digital economy. Efforts are underway to retrain miners and other displaced workers as computer programmers and homebased call center agents.