Just yesterday our governor here in Mississippi, Tater Twat Reeves, made the announcement that he was bringing broadband to the state…..actually that is BS he did nothing…the whole country will be getting money to expand across the nation.
They are the outliers in a modern age, and not by choice: More than 8 million homes and businesses in the US do not have broadband service that meets bare-minimum standards, reports Engadget. But a major push to remedy that was unveiled at the White House on Monday—a $42 billion initiative to bring high-speed internet to pretty much anyone who wants it, even if they live in far-flung rural locales deemed unprofitable by major providers. Some highlights:
- Money: Every state will get at least $107 million, and 18 will get more than $1 billion, including Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia. Those getting the most are Texas ($3.3 billion) and California ($1.8 billion). CNN has the complete list. Territories also get money, starting with the Virgin Islands at $27 million.
- Examples: The Washington Post has a graphic listing the number of people “unserved” by the internet in various states, starting with Texas at 779,000. Other examples include North Carolina (376,000), Michigan (368,000), Virginia (364,000), Missouri (337,000), and California (306,000).
- Now what? States will start submitting their plans to deliver internet later this year and unlock 20% of their allotment, per Reuters. The full amount likely won’t be released until plans are finalized in 2025. The White House goal is to have everyone in the US connected by 2030 under what’s known as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
- The pitch: “It’s the biggest investment in high-speed internet ever,” said President Biden on Monday. “Because for today’s economy to work for everyone, internet access is just as important as electricity, or water, or other basic services.” The money is part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
Personally I like the idea….this world today one needs access to be successful in whatever they attempt….plus it would be good for education as long as the idiots keep their hands out of the pie.
Will this make a difference?
Do you have an opinion?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Today the government is planning to squander a few million dollars on Internet for everyone because they claim it is just as important as electricity or water or other basic services … and before you know it, they will be Hawking for Artificial Intelligence in the same manner …because the Internet and Artificial Intelligence will be wed together before anyone can say “Scat” and who knows where the freebie wagon will go from there …and believe me when I assure that “The Idiots” shall by NO means keep their hands out of the pie.
It is billions….Texas to get $3 billion alone…..a good point….chuq
It feels like ‘late to the party’. I live in a small village, population 1,500, and we have had fibre-optic superfast broadband for over 7 years now. America should be leading, not following.
Best wishes, Pete.
Yep the US is always behind the cow on these types of things….we let the profiteers get theirs first. chuq
Thank You Ned. chuq
It reminds me of the REA of 1936.. the rural Electrification Act. Here’s a blurb from Wiki on it…
“The Rural Electrification Act of 1936, enacted on May 20, 1936, provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve isolated rural areas of the United States.
The funding was channeled through cooperative electric power companies, hundreds of which still exist today.[1] These member-owned cooperatives purchased power on a wholesale basis and distributed it using their own network of transmission and distribution lines. The Rural Electrification Act was one of many New Deal proposals by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to remedy high unemployment during the Great Depression.”
Maybe because this took so long for internet is because the impetus to put the unemployed to work according to Roosevelt, just hasn’t been there for pushing any-speed internet (What’s “high speed” anymore anyway? You want higher speeds, you gotta pay for it.). Seems to me this could put a lot of immigrants not working the fields anymore up the poles or digging ditches for fiber.
BTW, chuq, the REA funneled the cash to pay for rural electric through the electric cooperatives. How they dispersing the cash for rural internet when most areas I know of have competing companies offering internet service? Let me guess… the company who donates the most money to some party PAC? Damn… I am sounding like you. 🙂
Sorry Doug but it is always about the cash. Welcome to the club. chuq