Sanford proposes broadband initiative

DATELINE: COLUMBIA S.C.

Gov. Mark Sanford said Wednesday he wants $2 million in next year's state budget to help extend high-speed Internet access to the state's rural communities.

"In an increasingly global economy, it's incredibly important that people living in places like Allendale have the same opportunity to access the information superhighway as people living in places like Greenville," he said in a release.

His proposed budget for 2007-08 will recommend creating a Broadband Advisory Committee within the Department of Commerce to oversee efforts to provide people in rural communities with Internet access other than dial-up.

The $2 million from the state's general fund would be used for both direct and matching grants, said Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer.

State law does not allow the regulation of broadband services, so their availability and subscription levels in South Carolina are unclear. According to the Federal Communications Commission, some form of Digital Subscriber Line is available in 73 percent of the places statewide where phone companies provide service.

Tom Persons, president and chief executive of the South Carolina Technology Alliance, called the proposed initiative a "great first start." High-speed Internet access would open up economic development opportunities for poor, rural areas, he said.

"I believe broadband access should be like air and water," said Persons, a former AT&T executive. "It should be the right of every citizen to have basic, good high-speed Internet."

Bob Elek, a Verizon spokesman, said extending broadband services to rural areas with few potential customers is a "very costly venture."

"It will take a multi-prong approach to expand broadband into rural areas," he said, adding the company's interested in the governor's idea.

Martha Smith, a BellSouth spokeswoman, said her company's supportive of any idea aimed at increasing residents' access to technology.

"We would want all citizens to enjoy the benefits of broadband," she said. "Obviously, that's very important if we are to have the competitive edge."