Broadband of Brothers

Good news

Russ Steele

This is good news. We asked the Governor's Broadband Task Forces to support this initiative. I have no idea if they did, but this is the reality.

WASHINGTON--The Federal Communications Commission ruled Tuesday that a valuable chunk of wireless spectrum will be open to whatever mobile devices Americans want to use, amounting to a political setback for traditional telephone companies and a partial win for Google.

As was hinted in recent weeks, the Federal Communications Commission approved that requirement as part of broader rules for auctioning licenses in the coveted 700MHz analog television band. The vote was technically 5-0, although one commissioner delivered a blistering critique of the so-called "open access" requirement.

WiFi, or similar services at 700 Mhz can penetrate the trees we have to deal with here in the foothills. This is good news for more broadband access in Nevada County.

Broadband Adoption

Russ Steele

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released their Broadband Adoption 2007 report. As you can see from the Summary, rural users are still being left out in the woods by the big telecommunications providers.  Big Telco gets favorable treatment at the state house and rural users get the. . . you add any term you like. We cannot adopt broadband if it is not available.

Summary of Findings
• 47% of all adult Americans have a broadband connection at home as of early
2007, a five percentage point increase from early 2006.
• Among individuals who use the internet at home, 70% have a broadband
connection while 23% use dialup.
• Home broadband adoption in rural areas, now 31%, continues to lag high speed
adoption in urban centers and suburbs.
o Internet usage in rural areas also trails the national average; 60% of rural
adults use the internet from any location, compared with the national
average of 71%.
• 40% of African Americans now have a broadband connection at home, a nine
percentage point increase from early 2006.
o Since 2005, the percentage of African American adults with a home
broadband connection has nearly tripled, from 14% in early 2005 to
40% in early 2007.