And now from our economic development section…USA TODAY examines at the affect broadband could have on residents of Berry, a small town in northeast Kentucky with a population of 310.
“We had people come in and want to buy a house just outside city limits, but when they found out we don’t have high-speed DSL, they said, ‘No, We can’t live here,’ ” Berry Mayor Donald Adams says.
Across the USA, just 35% of adults in rural America can get online via broadband at home or work, vs. 50% of those in urban and suburban areas, says a study this year by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
The town has applied for a $100,000 grant from the Agriculture Department to make broadband available to residents for about $30 a month and to businesses for $80. Also, 10 computers would be installed for free public access.
I’m far from an economics professor, but there looks to be a huge business opportunity in small town connectivity. Maybe a savvy advertiser can work a deal to help themselves, and the disconnected.
Discover more from Adpulp
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
While the US does have more broadband connections than any other country in terms of raw numbers, we’re currently ranked only 19th in the world in broadband penetration. What’s more, countries like South Korea and Hong Kong enjoy bitrates of 10x or more what the average home connection has in the US. Maybe we do need advertisers to step up to sponsor these things, like they sponsor Nascar.
Vote for this story on adveracio.us:
http://adveracio.us/story.php?title=High-Speed-Internet-Replaces-Good-Schools-As-Neighborhood-Criteria