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PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR
1 edit | You guys know nothing about Oregon ... ...and the title of this article is (once again) very misleading. "Rural Oregon" is hardly being served by these companies. It Should be "Small Wireless Companies Serve One Tiny Part of 'rural' Oregon Well". And that part happens to be the richest, fastest-growing city in Central Oregon, and its surrounding area. What is referred to as 'rural' here has pockets of urban-like population density in the form of retirement communities and resorts; e.g., Webformix' primary reason for existing is to serve the Crooked River Ranch resort. And two of the companies listed (Clearwire and ILoveMyWiFi) are actually Metro Bend mobile providers more than the outskirts.
The wealth of this area, coupled with the High Desert geography ideally suited for wireless (mostly flat and unobstructed, punctuated by the occasional butte for towers), make this more of a niche situation than an example of how to provide universal coverage. Most of Central Oregon (and area several times the size of new Jersey) and almost all of rural Oregon has no broadband. Maybe if the TV "white space" frequencies ever do get freed up, that may change (they work well in foliaged/hilly terrain).
Who over said telcos should be compelled to offer a service at a loss? | |
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KeepOnRockin
Music Lover Forever
Premium
join:2002-11-08
Beaverton, OR | Yep, that's about the size of it. | |
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cdigioia
Premium
join:2005-06-08
korea, repub
 ·Korea Telecom
| Agreed,
These WISPs don't provide coverage to "central oregon" per se, they provide it to the Bend metropolitan area. I relatively affluent area with many relatively wealthy retirees.
That still leaves the other 99% of Central/Eastern Oregon without broadband geographically speaking.
However to be fair, while Central/Eastern Oregon is mostly flat desert, there are some hills in the Bend area...at least to make it comparable to most of the inland US which is itself quite flat. | |
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