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During the past 10 years or so, Rockefeller has repeatedly introduced bills with tax benefits related to broadband, particularly in rural areas. Two years ago, he offered a big resolution on the need for a national broadband plan, and he has worked on various pieces of legislation related to the topic, a Rockefeller aid said.

Rockefeller was responsible for initiating the E-Rate program in 1996. Every year, E-Rate makes money available to schools and libraries so they can get connected to telecommunications. This successful program became a model for many other broadband projects of the Federal Communications Commission.

Rockefeller, who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, worked hard to make sure broadband funding was a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The act designated $7.2 billion to go toward broadband expansion nationwide for unserved and underserved areas.

According to Rockefeller’s office, he pushed for the inclusion of broadband in the stimulus plan because high-speed Internet can bring jobs and economic opportunities to the area and advance education and health care. He believes that broadband needs to be thought of like water, sewer and roads. He’s looking at broadband as the next infrastructure challenge in West Virginia and the country, and recognizes its vital role in the state’s economic future.

Last week, Rockefeller gave opening remarks during the West Virginia Broadband Summit, which the Discover the Real West Virginia Foundation sponsored. State leaders met at the Charleston Marriott on Sept. 28 to talk about improving the accessibility of high-speed Internet in West Virginia, which will in turn help the economy.

“With broadband we can remake and reinvigorate our communications networks for the new century,” he said in his speech. “We can turn low bandwidth facilities into high bandwidth and high opportunity networks. We can transform education, improve health care, shore up business and employment opportunities, and foster a new and more democratic dialogue.

“Nowhere do I want to see this success more than right here at home in West Virginia. And nowhere do I see more enormous potential for widespread broadband to empower our people with the digital resources they need to succeed in their communities, in our country and in the world.”

Rockefeller said during the conference that broadband has reached a turning point, with government, industry and communities finally focusing on this topic after a long period of neglect. While the United States is now on the correct path, it’s still far behind other countries in terms of the speed of broadband.

In West Virginia, about one-fifth of households lack access to broadband service, and according to the FCC, the state has one of the lowest broadband penetration rates. Rockefeller commented that these statistics are unacceptable, and he called the state to action to change the future of broadband.

“It will not be simple and it will not be easy,” he said. “But despite all these challenges, I am an optimist. West Virginians know challenge. We have common sense in spades. We work hard. Our business climate welcomes new ideas and new prospects.

“By working together, we can harness the power of the digital age to build the infrastructure that for generations to come will serve as our economic engine, strengthen our bonds, and offer a new range of opportunity. We can do it. I believe that government, industry and communities acting together can make it happen.”

The conference, which followed the 2006 summit in Beckley, also featured speakers Lawrence Strickling from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Kelley Goes, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, and Rey Ramsey, CEO of One Economy Corp.

At the event, Rockefeller joined Marshall University President Stephen Kopp and Larry Malone, chairman of the West Virginia Telehealth Alliance, to announce a new broadband network that will impact rural health care in the Huntington area. The “Metro Fiber Build” project will connect Marshall University, the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, St. Mary’s Medical Center and Cabell-Huntington Hospital.

Through an advanced broadband interconnection, these medical facilities will have the ability to share information and offer improved treatment for rural residents. Health centers in rural areas will also have remote access to their physicians and specialists.

Rockefeller’s office reported that a pilot program was started a couple years ago to help rural health care facilities in states get connected to broadband so they could do more with telemedicine and offer immediate care for patients.

Rockefeller sees the “Metro Fiber Build” project as an opportunity to really build broadband, which will be vitally important for the next generation. He is very interested in making sure that attention is given to rural communities and that service is provided to those areas.

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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jessica Legge

Quelle/Source: The Times West Virginian, 05.10.2009

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