History provides some lessons when it comes to the current push for rural broadband access.
First, there was the Homestead Act, signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, long before broadband was even a twinkle in any inventor’s eye. The purpose of that act, the president said, was “to elevate the condition of men – to lift artificial weights from all shoulders – to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all – to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life.” President Lincoln had land for homesteaders in mind, but his idea of providing all with a fair chance formed the basis for developments to come in the 20th century: rural electrification and rural telecommunications. In the 21st century, that fair chance extends to availability of high-speed internet, or rural broadband.
The Communications Act of 1934, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, created the Federal Communications Commission and “also made the concept of universal service the law of the land,” according to The Rural Broadband Association, NTCA. “The cornerstone of telecommunications policy,” the NTCA’s website says, “called for ‘making available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States a rapid, efficient, nationwide and worldwide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges...’” Two years later, the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 allowed the federal government to loan money at low interest rates to farmers who formed cooperatives to bring electric power into the rural areas, where private companies were unwilling to make the investment. The concern was that a great gap was developing between those with and without access to electric power. The same kind of gap is developing today when it comes to internet access. That is why it is good to see state and national leaders recognize the importance of universal broadband access to the economy at all levels, from local to global, and push for connection. The New NY Broadband Program awarded $54 million in its initial round of funding for infrastructure development, geared to reach out to unserved and underserved areas of the state. Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties are expected to benefit when telecommunication firms submit bids in future rounds. Empire Access, which provides service to Batavia, took advantage of the program’s first round, taking on an area adjacent to its telephone service area around Lodi and Burdett. Jim Basse, Empire’s senior vice president, explained that firms look for markets with 100 homes per mile. The city of Batavia met that standard, promising adequate return on investment, but government help is needed when it comes to serving those outside cities.
“On five to ten homes per mile, it’s very hard to get our investment back,” Mr. Basse said. “Without state funding, I don’t think that a lot of rural fiber would be placed for residential users.”
Those who live on the back roads of these three counties are familiar with the problem of access. Some are fortunate enough to live near telephone service facilities with access to DSL, which may not be high speed but at least is faster than dial-up access to the internet. Some use satellite service. High-speed service may be available through cable television and telephone fiber optic lines, but those lines don’t run everywhere. People are being left out of the economy by reason of where they live. They are not getting that “fair chance” President Lincoln envisioned more than a century ago.
The Center for Rural Strategies looked at what the expansion of broadband might mean to rural areas in a 2011 report. “While broadband will not bring immediate economic transformation to rural America,” author Sharon Strover wrote, “regions that lack broadband will be crippled.” Broadband access may not create a boom in job creation, but not having it may lead to job loss which hurts the economy at every level.
While business is thought of as the primary beneficiary of high speed access, for information, for orders – simply, to stay competitive in today’s market – broadband access has societal implications. “E-health, distance education and e-government services are poised to explode in the next decade,” Ms. Strover wrote, “and rural communities need to be ready to exploit their value for their environment and livelihood if they are to stay vital and connected.” Her words are, if anything, more true today than they were five years ago.
Within two years of the Rural Electrification Act, 1.5 million farms in 45 of the 48 states had electric power, and the cost of a mile of transmission line had dropped from $2,000 to $600. Once the electricity was there, it enabled American farmers to boost production to levels that had only been dreamed of before. A lot of people believe that universal broadband internet will provide the next big boost not only to agriculture, but every other aspect of business. The state’s goal in offering funding is to get the entire state connected by 2018. Local leaders will be doing everything they can to make sure that happens. All rural people want is a fair chance.
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Quelle/Source: The Daily News Online, 15.08.2016
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