I can see why even those of us who deliver broadband may at times wonder
how important broadband actually is for productivity and other impacts
to society over standard dialup Internet service. Here are some of my
thoughts about it.
Maybe if we can create virtual home offices over broadband then folks
can work from home in some cases. I can see moms or dads who want to
stay home but also need a job. They could do this, earn extra money and
compete better against some of those over-seas jobs where work is
outsourced. I believe I read something about Jetblue doing this with
call center functions hiring morman moms in Utah to act as their virtual
call center for all order processing, customer service, etc..
Building virtual call centers is a new industry opportunity in itself if
broadband can be utilized and heavily available. I am sure many of you
are saying that broadband is not a requirement to do this but certainly
the PBX capability of VOIP requires broadband. Virtual office
environments could help us save money by eliminating or reducing fuel
costs. Virtual meetings require only some type of shared computer
whiteboard space and audio / video conferencing to allow for complete
virtualized meeting capability. I could have used a virtual office
environment today which would have saved me 4 hours of drive to to St.
Louis and back again. Not to mention the fuel and vehicle maintenance
cost related to a 4 hour drive. Maybe companies would be able to expand
more readily if they had less transportation costs by utilizing
broadband. I am not saying you guys should all buy into this concept or
that I am even sure what the actual target job count increases could be
but I am willing to bet that some economic and even job count advantages
would be gained by more access to broadband.
I believe that access to Broadband can, and usually does, produce a good
net result for our society. Here is an example. In Bluford, Illinois Mt.
Vernon. Net, Inc. received a grant to build 900 MHz broadband wireless
Internet access through the USDA. We built a highly available broadband
network in this small community of about 750 people. One day the grade
school called me with a problem. They had a 7 year old student who had
become stricken with leukemia. As a result the child had to have a bone
marrow transplant. This required him to be 100% isolated in his home
from any human contact. One of the things he was most worried about,
even though he was facing possibly death from the disease, was that he
did not want to be held back a year in school. He wanted to stay with
his class. The school asked us if we could help. We used grant funds to
purchase an IP camera with pan, tilt, zoom capability. We installed
wireless into the kids home. We setup the camera in his classroom. He
finished the year over his broadband connection by virtually attending
class every day. This boy finished with his class. He is now well and
back to school. He was not held back a year. How important was broadband
to this rural child? How many other unforeseen advantages will we see
when more access to broadband becomes part of our society?
Scriv
Travis Johnson wrote:
Hi,
Can someone explain to me how having broadband (instead of dial-up
internet that EVERYONE can get) is going to create 61,000 jobs per
year for the next 20 years? If it will create jobs from people doing
more online, then it will decrease jobs from the brick and mortar
businesses going out of business. Am I missing something?
Travis
Microserv
John Scrivner wrote:
This is the US Senator in my district in Illinois. It looks like he
has been reading my emails maybe. :-) At least he is getting parts of
what I have been saying.
Scriv
*DURBIN INTRODUCES BILL TO ENCOURAGE HIGH SPEED INTERNET ACCESS IN
RURAL AREAS *
Friday, August 4, 2006
[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) says a national
policy is needed to accelerate the deployment of broadband internet
service to rural areas so that every American can have high-speed
internet access no matter where they live. Today, Durbin introduced
legislation, the Broadband for Rural America Act of 2006, to
encourage the rapid deployment of high-quality, affordable broadband
internet service, especially in rural areas.
“Broadband is an essential component of our lives, at work and at
home. It has become an essential service like water, gas and
electricity. Our homes and businesses need affordable access to high
speed internet connections, in the same way our homes and businesses
need traditional utility services,” said Durbin. “Yet, for too many
people living in small communities today, broadband access is still
not a reality. When I travel in downstate Illinois, people tell me
that they cannot wait to have broadband service, but that there is no
service available to them right now. My bill will change that.”
Two recent reports -- one issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce
and the other by the U.S. Department of Agriculture – found that
rural and farm households have access to broadband internet at
approximately half the level of all U.S. households nationwide.
Another respected research organization, the Pew Internet and
American Life Project, found similar results. In its 2006 report, Pew
found that only 18% of rural adults reported a home broadband
connection, compared to 31% of urban adults. All of these studies
point to a consistent conclusion: Americans living in urban areas are
almost twice as likely to have home broadband access as do their
rural counterparts.
Durbin said broadband is critical to community and economic
development, as it encourages investment, creates jobs, improves
productivity, fosters innovation, and increases consumer benefits in
every corner of our nation. A recent study found that adoption of
current generation broadband would increase the gross domestic
product by $179.7 billion, while adding approximately 61,000 jobs per
year over the two decades. The study also projected 1.2 million jobs
could be created if next generation broadband technology were rapidly
deployed.
“We need to close the digital divide, ensuring that rural Americans
are not left behind in the 21st Century’s digital economy,” Durbin
noted. “Whether it is through telephone wire, cable, fiber,
satellite, wireless or any other medium, we need every existing and
future broadband service provider to step up to the national challenge.”
Durbin said his bill includes four major provisions. Each is designed
to focus on identifying obstacles that hinder broadband deployment in
rural America today, and to find innovative solutions to address
those concerns.
Creates Broadband Trust Fund: creates a new federal program
specifically targeted at assisting individuals, businesses and co-ops
working at the earliest stages to bring broadband to their
communities. Eligible entities include nonprofits, academic
institutions, local governments and commercial companies that work to
identify broadband access needs in unserved areas of the country.
Projects to be funded through this new program will include
feasibility studies, mapping, economic analysis, and other activities
done to determine the reasons for the current lack of service, and
the scale, scope, and type of broadband services most suitable for
the particular unserved area.
Reforms USDA Rural Broadband Program: the current USDA broadband loan
program provides below-market rate loans and loan guarantees for the
construction and improvement of broadband facilities and equipment in
rural areas. This program expires in 2007. Durbin’s bill does three
things with regard to the broadband loan program -- extends the life
of the program for another five years until 2012; refocuses the
program solely on rural areas where it is most needed; and
establishes a grant program to be administered by the same USDA
office that currently runs the rural broadband loan program.
Wireless Broadband Spectrum: requires the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to make new spectrum available for wireless
broadband services in rural areas as soon as practicable. The bill
also requires the FCC to evaluate its spectrum auction plans and to
divide some of the frequency allocations into smaller area licenses
so that regional and rural wireless companies can compete in the
bidding process. Making additional spectrum available holds
tremendous potential for wireless broadband to be deployed in rural
areas, especially in large geographic regions where it would be cost
prohibitive to build out wires and cable.
Creates Broadband Task Force: establishes a task force consisting of
experts in federal, state, and local governments, trade associations,
public interest organizations, academic institutions, and other areas
to study best practices for rapid deployment of broadband services in
states, particularly those with large unserved rural areas. The bill
requires the task force, within 6 months, to provide to Congress and
to each governor a report detailing a comprehensive list of specific
measures adopted by state or local governments that helped deploy
broadband services in areas that lacked such services.
The legislation has been referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee.
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