Coming soon: national broadband service

[Jeffersons Ghost]

On Feb. 13, 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 at the urging of President Obama, who signed it into law four days later. A direct response to the economic crisis, the Recovery Act has three immediate goals:

* Create new jobs and save existing ones
* Spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth
* Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending

Coming soon: national broadband service

Grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) are funding the creation of new broadband Internet infrastructure nationwide. That connectivity will not just benefit the residents of communities who have been unable to access the web, but it also will make it easier for local governments to provide services.

In August, $1.8 billion in ARRA grants were awarded to 94 projects to expand broadband services in communities through a program administered by the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service. The ARRA funding for broadband indicates increasing federal support for extending broadband infrastructure to residents who, for various reasons, do not have Internet access, says Alan Shark, executive director of the Washington-based Public Technology Institute (PTI). And, that will greatly benefit cities and counties, he says. Public safety agencies will be better able to communicate with residents, and local governments, which rely heavily on a "mobile workforce," will save money by allowing some employees to work from home.

Offering online services saves local governments money by reducing labor costs incurred by having government employees respond to requests for help, Shark says, so it benefits cities to ensure that more people have access. "If we're pushing more of our services online, there's got to be an expectation that we have to figure out how to get more people to be able to use that," he says.

The Tampa (Fla.) Housing Authority received one of the grants issued in August and will use it to install Internet service and computers in 119 units initially. "The goal is to have all of our properties connected to the broadband system," says the authority's Public Relations Director Lillian Stringer.

http://americancityandcounty.com/technology/national-broadband-service-201010/

[shraby]

1. Does that mean residents of a city/town wiil be able to

purchase their broadband from the city/town instead of cable or telephone companies?

[iamtechus]

2. I'm sure that the republicans will never allow that (socialism!).

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. I suspect you'll still be paying the same companies for access...

AT&T, Quest and several large corporations own the hardware that carries internet data. None of them actually "own" the internet. These companies have likely benefited from this recent government investment in infrastructure.

Currently, these large companies are seeking more control over not only pricing but also content on an internet the federal government helped to build. These organizations are trying to reduce the FCCs' authority and abolish net neutrality, which allows all websites equal visibility on the web.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. Can I get one more recommendation for what little good news is available on DU?

[B Calm]

5. I been hearing this for years. I'll believe it when I can hook up to high speed!