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States Consider Options in Extending Broadband Access

May 14, 2007

In an era in which many companies maintain a web presence before their first technology hits the market, broadband access has become an essential ingredient for high-tech business and growth. In many states, however, the need for broadband access has widened the high-tech achievement gap between urban and rural areas. Without high-speed connections, many students in rural areas are unable to gain the skills needed by technology-based companies, and many rural businesses find it difficult to compete without access to advanced web-based resources.

 

Universal access to high-speed broadband access has become something of a holy grail, not yet attained by any state. In order to spread the benefits of high-speed connections, several states have recently launched initiatives to ensure that even businesses in the most remote regions have access to online resources.

 

Vermont

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas believes that universal wireless broadband access could revolutionize telecommunications, education and business in his state. In his inaugural address earlier this year, the governor announced a plan to make Vermont the country’s first “e-state”, in which wireless data transfer and cellular voice coverage are available anywhere in the state (see the Jan. 8, 2007 issue of the Digest).

 

The state legislature recently approved the first step in the governor’s plan by establishing a Vermont Telecommunications Authority to direct the state’s wireless efforts. The Authority will issue $40 million in grants to municipalities and service providers for projects to extend voice and data coverage to currently underserved areas. The grants will allow the state to provide “border-to-border” access, even in the rural areas not served by conventional broadband.

 

Several other states also are engaged in the race to become the first state with border-to-border wireless access. Both South Carolina and Rhode Island have launched their own universal wireless strategies. Though the details of these strategies differ, each state hopes that by extending wireless coverage they will be able to offer unmatched opportunities in education and business while bypassing the cost of installing cable access points in underdeveloped areas.

 

West Virginia

Many states, however, still struggle to offer wired broadband services to a large portion of their citizens. West Virginia ranks 45th in broadband access, according to Kyle Schafer, the state’s chief technology officer. The state has faced a particularly challenging time extending services, due to its mountainous terrain and large rural population.

 

In April, the state legislature approved a bill that promised to offer broadband access to the entire state by 2010. The Electronic Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Act would have allowed the state to immediately begin work on a survey of current broadband availability, and then to begin extending access to the rest of the state.

 

That plan was halted late last month, however, when Gov. Joe Manchin vetoed the bill and introduced an alternative approach. The governor said the bill would have interfered with an emerging “strategic alliance” with networking company Cisco Systems. Cisco has begun offering the state free guidance in expanding its broadband network, according to an Associated Press article. Gov. Manchin believes that the alliance will still result in universal access by 2010.

Vermont