“The thing that really pleased me is that those two mayors were willing to put aside their geographic boundaries  their voting constituent boundaries and to say, ‘if we collaborate, then this entire area will benefit,’” said Hilda Legg Vice Chair of the 2013 Broadband Communities Summit and former Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service. Legg was referencing the work of the mayors of Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri in working together to facilitate the rollout of Google Fiber in the Kansas City region.

She also implies that the results of a fiber rollout are long-term and, as a result, communities are just beginning to see the positive impact of fiber to the home deployments. She points out that technology is important for leveling the playing field; whether it is eliminating distance in the west or metaphorically leveling the mountains of the Appalachia, making it possible for all communities and their citizens to thrive in today’s knowledge-based economy.

2013 Broadband Communities Summit coverage brought to you by the Matrix Design Group and M3 Multifamily Media Management.