Rural Area Have-nots Lose Out on the Net

"The internet revolution has created a new underclass of people in rural and remote areas who are being excluded from the brave new world of teleworking, virtual shopping and online public services by lack of access to technology.

That is the conclusion of research, to be published this week, which warns the much-hyped potential for new technologies to 'render distance obsolete' is not being realised.

The research, carried out by the Local Futures Group thinktank for IT giant IBM, calls on the government to treat access to technology as just as important as access to transport and health care. " [at The Guardian, via LucDesk]

Although this report focuses on the U.K., it's true for the U.S., too. My aunt moved to a farm in Missouri a few years ago (not too far from Kansas City) with the hope that she could get a broadband connection and still do data entry for her old employer in Chicago. When she got settled in, she found she was on a party telephone line so she couldn't even use a dial-up account. Not that there was a local number anyway. She eventually got a private phone line, but broadband is pretty difficult to come by out there.

I wanted to highlight this other quote from the Guardian article, too:

" 'If you accept that ICT access should be part of the infrastructure then you can't leave it to the market because it will take too long and the gap will get wider.' "

This is the problem we're facing in the U.S. as the Bush administration attempts to cut funding to public programs that support community access, deregulates the broadband industry, and approves BigCo mergers in this arena. I hope the U.K. has better luck with this than we will.

The Internet Amenity

"Within 10 or 15 years’ time, practically every computer and every handheld device will be online all the time.

What many people don’t realize, however, is that this visionary network is increasingly up and running today. And it doesn’t even require any new technology, business models or significant investment. Indeed, if there is a single difference between the Broadband2Wireless mission and the reality of this new ubiquitous network, it’s that the real wireless Internet doesn’t cost $50 a month—it’s free. All that’s required, really, is openness....

Ultimately, IP tone becomes valuable not when it is just in your hotel room but when you can count on it being everywhere. I have it in my house for guests. My friends have it in their offices. This is the friendly future that I see starting to shape up: instead of seeing Internet connectivity as a profit center, my guess is that businesses, universities and government facilities are going to provide IP tone to visitors for the same reason that they offer free local telephone service, water and the use of rest rooms—it makes the environment warmer, friendlier and more productive.

Do your part: set up an open network today." [at Technology Review, via Tomalak's Realm]

You know who would loooooove to set up wireless networks for anyone to come in and use? Yep... public libraries. Most can't, though.

1. The limited technology budget is better spent on computers, printers, and maintenance;
2. When there is a tech person on staff, they don't have the time or resources to set one up and maintain it;
3. A lot of public libraries don't even have a tech person on staff.

It's kind of sad, actually, because PLs are already community centers. Check out The Wireless Librarian's list of Libraries with Wireless and you'll see that only 7 of the 88 listed are public libraries. It's not a definitive list, but it's indicative of the current situation. We'd need a similar e-rate-like initiative for wireless to change this, but the Bush administration would rather cut this type of funding.