[A2k] Blog on broadband deployment in a US State

[Manon Ress]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Interesting blog from Nancy Scola "Broadband Done Right -- The Old
Dominion Model."She describes  in detail how the US State of Virginia
is handling the costs and logistics of broadband deployment and its
benefits to Virginia's most rural places.


quote:
But while the federal government limps along with its fortune-cookie
message of a broadband policy=97=93The market will provide=94=97in Virginia
the global communications network is being pulled and cajoled into
every corner of the state where Virginians want and need to get
connected. This approach not only gives the state a much needed
economic shot in the arm. It also demonstrates a realist approach to
bringing broadband to Americans where they make their homes, giving
them the tools to live the lives they want to lead.

This is Virginia=92s broadband-development model=97or more precisely, a
collection of models that marry together state, local and federal
funds with private industry participation, creating new jobs in parts
of the state that have been losing them for decades. What=92s more, the
Old Dominion model is proving itself up to the task of delivering
demanding online applications, much need medical care and training,
and small business opportunities to Joan Minor and millions of others
in the commonwealth. The approach underpinning the successful rollout
of high-speed connectivity represents technology policy innovation at
its best.
end of quote

http://www.scienceprogress.org/2008/03/broadband-done-right/


Some facts about the State:
# Virginia=92s population reached 7.7 million on July 1, 2007,
increasing by more than 633,000 since the 2000 Census.
# Only half of Virginia residents were born there. 40% come from other
states and 10% from other countries.
# One out of every three Virginians lives in Northern Virginia
(basically a suburb of Washignton, DC).



***************************************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
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Il vaut mieux remuer une question, sans la d=E9cider, que la d=E9cider,
sans la remuer.
Pens=E9es, essais, maximes et correspondance de J. Joubert  p.249
http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=3DGallica&O=3DNUMM-88671
Translation: It is better to debate a question without settling it
than to settle a question without debating it