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Applications Driving the Need for Rural Broadband
“If it’s a covered service, then the insurance company should pay for it, whether it is electronically delivered or a face-to-face delivery,” said attorney Michael Keeling. Keeling was referring to recently passed Arizona legislation (Arizona Senate Bill 1353) that puts telemedicine on a level playing field with health care delivered in person. He points out that…
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Reducing Barriers to Broadband Rights of Way
In comments made last Friday to the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Task Force on Communications and Technology, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai suggested that state legislatures need to be proactive in reducing and removing barriers for over-the-top business of all types, such as the examples he provides in telemedicine and transportation. Pai stated that, “States should be…
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Getting People to Work Together
“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…
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Broadband – Unique to Each Locale
Tim Scott describes Axia’s role as the operator for community networks. He highlights a middle-mile project they are involved with in western Massachusetts. With an international presence that spans from Singapore to Alberta to Massachusetts, Scott explains that Axia has found that the business case for broadband is unique to each locale and has to…
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Act Together to Generate Supply and Demand
“We are teaching our rural regions to help themselves,” said Galen Updike, past-president of the Rural Telecommunications Congress. He suggests that rural communities need to work together regionally to aggregate demand to attract broadband. He points out that there is no cookie-cutter approach, but one commonality is the feet on the street in the community…
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Sustainable Community Through Broadband
Community leaders from Olds, Alberta describe their vision to ensure that their community remains relevant to its local institutions and people. The process took a several years and succeeded because various local institutions decided broadband was a priority and working together was the only way to make it happen. Lance Douglas, CEO of O-Net, describes…
