Stimulus Act Extends Broadband Service to Rural Communities

[quiet.american]

Sounds progressive to me!

NYT: Extending Broadband Service to the Disconnected

Government stimulus spending is a contentious issue right now in Washington. But the $7.2 billion in the last stimulus package for extending high-speed Internet access is just beginning to be spent, and the beneficiaries could not be happier.

Cynthia K. Wegener and her husband, owners of a farm and horse-breeding business in western Kansas, will be able to download a photograph of a horse to show a potential buyer in seconds, not the 20 to 30 minutes they now need with dial-up service. “I just cannot begin to tell you how frustrating it is to do anything with it,” she said.

And in remote Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska, with limited Internet access, the program will bring more fundamental changes, expanding the health care options, for example, to allow doctors in Anchorage, 400 miles to the east, to see patients via videoconference.

“This is the first time in my 25 years in health care where technology has a direct impact,” David P. Hodges, the chief information officer for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. “It sure gives you a new perspective on what you do for a living.”

More at link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/technology/10broadband.html?_r=1&hp

[canetoad]

1. That's terrific news

Most western governments now recognise broadband access as important as any other utility. Without it, isolated people and communities are seriously disadvanted.

Wish I could rec this :)

[Born_A_Truman]

2. I hope they come here ...

I have no hope of DSL or Cable here where I live. I had dial-up (still do as back-up) until I got satellite internet. Still things I can't do on SI and it isn't near as fast as DSL or Cable. I know they were experimenting with broadband via power lines but don't know where that went. I can't even get wirless here because we're surrounded on 3 sides by buttes. Someday ....

[Cha]

3. Thank you for this update on the broadband expansion, QA..

As well as horse pictures it means more information to those who are held captive by faux and faux wannabees. If they will take advantage.

[Number23]

4. That's fantastic. The digital divide is a really important issue to me

Glad to see that this administration is doing something about it.