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Idaho Gets Serious About Broadband

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pr0n-in-the-heartland dept.

prostoalex writes "In an effort to boost the economy state of Idaho legislated tax credit for companies, who were investing in broadband Internet infrastructure. According to the latest news, the plan worked quite well, and about 150 thousand people can soon take advantage of tax-sponsored buildout. Speaking of wiring rural areas with cheap Internet access, there was an article in NY Times ($free_registration_quote), where Bill Gates admitted that in many cases building Internet in the rural area just speeded up the exodus of farmers, who were able to find a job somewhere else."

3 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. Re:broadband boosting economy? by p0rnking · · Score: 5, Informative

    "a standard ISDN line is fine for internet access." I dunno about you's down south, but up here, 64kbps ISDN, costs more that our dsl or cable internet access. Also, with ISDN, you need another phone line, which costs even more. So personally, ISDN, isn't even an option. Here's an example of some of the pricings: Single Channel ISDN: Setup Fee: $220 Monthly Rate: $280 Dual Channel ISDN: Setup Fee: $220 Monthly Rate: $400 So, if they can get broadband cheaper, it would allow more business to get online, or get a faster connection online, which I doubt would hurt the economy ...

  2. Re:Sounds like Korea, a bit by Sivar · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sounds like Korea, a bit

    Not quite as nice. Many Koreans can get internet connections nearing or exceeding 100Mbit (!!!) for $15-$25/mo equivalent. The country has forum websites that are perfectly happy lettign you post multi-megabyte pictures because their gigabit and ten-gigabit (!!!) connections can hack it, and are dirt cheap.

    Of course, when you consider the average pay of Korean citizens this suddenly doesn't seem quite so like an internet Mecca, but still...

    --
    Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
  3. Technology doesn't guarrantee success by caseih · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was amused to read Bill Gate's comments on computers and internet access halting the rural exodus by 1995. Having been born and raised on a large successful farm, I can tell you that yes, technology and computers are essential tools (even our tractors have computers in them that monitor and control every aspect of the engine and transmission, etc). But that's all they are. The tools need to be wielded better by farmers through education and better management.

    There are several problems with farming in America that no broadband or computer is going to fix. (And thus the exodus will continue)

    1. Farming is too innefficient. The days of small family farms under 640 acres are gone. You just can't do it any more. Sorry.
    2. Farmers don't know how to manage their farms like a business. Even a family farm is a business.
    3. Government subsidies eliminate incentives to improve these things and compete with the rest of the world. (Although Europe is the worst offender for subsidies.) Let's get rid of them.
    4. Farmers are not diversivied enough. Thus my farm has gone from traditional wheat and grains to canola, peas, alfalfa, and flax. Also we use modern no-till techniques for increasing yeild without having to work the land. (stirring the soil can be counter-productive.)

    My father has pioneered the use of computers in Agriculture as planning and managing tools (like a normal business, fancy that) since the IBM PC in 1981. The internet doesn't yet play a significant role in marketing, however, but it is a good tool for managing the books (online banking), researching and sharing ideas for innovation and so forth.

    So things like rural broadband are nice, but if you don't fix the underlying problem, you'll soon have no rural population left and everybody will then wonder where their food is.

    Michael