Tearing Down the Access Barrier: Wireless Broadband and Rural Communities. An Information Age Appalachia Report

摘要

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a critical role in the economic development and competitiveness of national, regional, and local communities. A diverse group of organizations from the World Bank to the Congress of American Indians have made the case that without access to ICT, rural communities cannot hope to support a competitive economic environment. The ICT requirement for the future will not be access alone, but broadband access. Indeed, the construction of a national broadband network has been suggested and has received support from a variety of legislators, trade associations, and policy makers. One study estimates that such a network would result in the creation of 1.2 million jobs, the majority of which would be in technology as opposed to pure telecommunications-related jobs. Another estimate is that $500 billion a year for the next 10 years would be pumped into the American economy if broadband was available universally. Yet for rural communitiesparticularly many of the communities served by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) lack of access to a modern telecommunications infrastructure has denied them the opportunity to compete equally with more-connected regions that are in or adjacent to metropolitan areas. The Commission recognized this barrier and adopted the Information Age Appalachia program to promote access to a modern telecommunications platform for the Region, and to ensure that its residents can take advantage of the opportunities ICT allows.