| Broadband black hole? We do need to make sure that broadband is available to everyone. It is vital to the economic growth of this country. That being said, a grant program to small carriers and requirements of the telcos and cablecos to expand their access with the money they are granted. My family and I live four miles from DSL access (which is very doable to bring it to us with some more DSLAMs on the lines) 3.9 from Cable (we were told it would cost TW $72,000+ to bring it out here) and approx. five miles from Fiber. We are surrounded by small to medium sized towns with Fiber, Cable, DSL and Mobile Broadband service, yet we are left out because of a decision to live here 20+ years ago.
And I am the first to admit that someone should pay for their own internet access. We indeed do, paying $80 a month for adequate HughesNet with an unbelievably low FAP and high lag times. But the buildout of Fiber, Cable or other broadband tech would help everyone overall, and compared to the trillion dollar bailouts and stimuli, would actually benefit everyone. |
