Obama announces rural Internet expansion

While discussing the new unemployment report today, President Obama also announced his latest stimulus bill project: $795 million to expand broadband Internet service to 66 rural areas with little or no access.

"In the short term, we expect these projects to create about 5,000 construction and installation jobs around the country," Obama said. "And once we emerge from the immediate crisis, the long-term economic gains to communities that have been left behind in a digital age will be immeasurable."

Source

I guess this is so when hit hits the "kill switch" more people know he did it. I jest. Interesting news though. Hard to believe some people till have sch limiited access.

"66 rural areas" doesnt even begin to cover them all.

I'm always blown away by this apparent lack of scale folks have of the United States.

We dont all live in cities stacked on top of one another like chickens in cages.

I can show you massive populated chunks of this country that still dont have electricity. And most folks there dont want it.

Obama can keep his rural broadband expansion.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


You sir, are correct.

I live on the right side of the street to get decent internet. One mile away from me and dial up is all you get.


Electricity is a new thing, plumbing is a new thing, air conditioning is a new thing and there are still plenty of people without them. Internet should be last on the list, get people electricity if you want to show them "progress."

I agree, when I'm not off at college, I stay at my dad's ranch, and we can't get internet out there. We are barely able to get electricity. However, recently we have been able to get some internet access (albeit very slow) via the use of verizon's mobile hotspot, but even that fades in and out because of coverage areas...

reply to post by ~Lucidity


More poor prioritization by the government. Over 60% of the bridges in this country are in some need of maintenance or retrofit, particularily in the west where earthquakes occur.

I'm all for infrastructure, but extending networks is something that the carriers should be responsible for, not the government. There are ways for the government to provide incentives to carriers to cover all areas for which they have a license to operate.

Hell im in the UK and even we don't have a decent broadband infrastructure across the country...given the difference in size and population density, i have a hard time thinking that broadband with the speed needed these days will be rolled out across America anytime soon...

[edit on 2-7-2010 by Solomons]

You have to get everyone on the internet before the threat of "killing it" via a big ol switch will scare anyone.

Broadband is the ball and chain of our generation. Facebook and farmville keep people in their homes and twitter is the early building block for a global subconcious datamine/mind reader.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
"66 rural areas" doesnt even begin to cover them all.

I'm always blown away by this apparent lack of scale folks have of the United States.

We dont all live in cities stacked on top of one another like chickens in cages.

I can show you massive populated chunks of this country that still dont have electricity. And most folks there dont want it.

Obama can keep his rural broadband expansion.

66 rural areas would hardly cover Colorado. I live in Huerfano (orphan) county. The size of the county is 1591 sq. miles with a population of 7755.

We did without phone service for 10 years because it would've cost $10,000 to run the lines. At that time we weren't within the coverage area for Cellular service. Direct TV didn't service our area it took about 10 years for that too. Our electric lines were a joke. All the poles were warped and leaning. Our electricity would go out all the time. It was so bad I made a gravity feed outdoor shower so I could shower before work. Our house needs electricity to bring water in.

We suffered with dial up for years but now we have mobile broadband. It's faster but there are limits on usage and we can't watch TV or movies on line. If Obama wants to give us broadband we would probably opt for it. We would have better TV and could drop our Direct package. You know we are kind of isolated out here. The internet/cell phones have really helped. We are often the forgotten people. Sometimes that's a good thing though.

reply to post by zroth


I HATE social networking sites like bebo,myspace and facebook. The worst thing about them is even if you are not a member, people still put pictures of you up along with details without your permission, i like my privacy thank you very much...if you tell people that you do not like them doing this they laugh and give you a strange look. As for farmville, i now regret buying my mother a laptop...she sits and plays that damn thing for hours.

[edit on 2-7-2010 by Solomons]

This is stupid, the money should be spent on infrastructure projects. The internet really is not that important compared to roads and bridges.

I'd venture to say that when air cards and satellite service gets cheaper (which it is) the coverage will get more complete. I just found it odd that he's even focusing on this at all, particularly in light of the general disarray of our infrastructure in this country.

reply to post by zroth


Exactly. We can't have some people not dependent on the internets! lol

Whatever happened to the satellite, power line and phone line services?

Is cable the new government propaganda partner?

Sounds to me like just another way to tax us for crap that private companies should pay for.

Frelling ridiculous.

Didn't New Orleans go totally free wifi hotspots all over the city after after Katrina? A few other cities have also done so, I believe.

Theres a conspiracy here folks,heres the skinny. I work for an isp,privately owned and privately built from the ground up. In order to qualify for the loan, thats right its a loan from the governmnt you must grant the fed 1st leinholder status. Its a roundabout way for the .gov to take over small independent operators or at least have a stake in your company,we told them to shove it.

Wow, nik...that's pretty interesting stuff. Doesn't anyone who loans you money for a business, depending on how much, hold a lien though?

Well yes they do and most businesses already have loans and liens,the gov requires to be the 1st lienholder however, which essentially means you'll have to settle the other liens first,they wont just step aside.

They have self-installed satellite TV and broadband access these days.

This is government spending your money to enrich private corporations for no reason at all.

The rural people can go to best buy, pick up a sat dish, install it in a few hours, and have broadband access.

Seriously, where do I even begin with this one? We have millions of people across the country who cant find a job, California employees who have been knocked down to min. wage, Millions of people who have suffered this year through floods, and are still suffering thorough the oil spill, markets falling, basically poop hitting the fan in a big way everywhere...and his big concern right now is THE FREEKIN INTERNET?!?!?!!

With what? monopoly money?