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  _Jon, May 2nd, 2007 @ 11:04am

  
  

  I read a report (somewhere) where an energy company (possibly Consumers Energy) is beginning a trial with a company to provide broadband via the electrical lines.

   

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  James Stevens, May 2nd, 2007 @ 11:23am

  
  

  No broadband blows

  I'm about 6 miles out of a city with approx. 17,000 people... I'm on the main highway running out of the city and we don't have broadband access. So we're left with 3 choices: satellite (which isn't too good for gaming and uploading), wireless broadband (good, but expensive like satellite, to get all the equipment set up it's $500 and then $50/month), and dial-up which is $10/month. I ended up switching to wireless broadband but it's really a pain that there's no cable lines a mere 6 miles out of the city; this plan definitely isn't working in my area and we're not even that rural; it sucks.

   

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  Chris, May 2nd, 2007 @ 11:30am

  
  

  Re: No broadband blows

  I'm in the same boat, but I literally live across the street from the city limits. I have no cable or dsl availability. I had to go with wireless internet myself. It beats satellite but it still sucks compared to cable.

   

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  Mike, May 2nd, 2007 @ 12:50pm

  
  

  Don't complain- my only high-speed option is satellite at 79.95/month.

   

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  Derek Kerton (profile), May 2nd, 2007 @ 1:29pm

  
  

  Trade-Offs

  How about we urbanites subsidize rural broadband when the ruralites subsidize my urban access to empty roads, clean air, open spaces, less noise and light pollution, shorter wait-lines, and a bigger house and land?
  
  There are trade-offs to where we choose to live. There are sacrifices to living in the city. There should also be sacrifices to living in the country. If free markets can reduce the sacrifices, then let's find the way. But if it takes my tax dollars, then I'm not interested.

   

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  Anonymous of Course, May 2nd, 2007 @ 2:00pm

  
  

  Trade-Offs and a point missed.

  I live in a rural area where my only access is over
  30 year old FDM lines with a 22.6K connection looking
  pretty good. When the lines are working.
  
  But I'm not complaining about that. I AM complaining
  that billions of dollars of tax payer's money has been
  spent on improving connectivity and the corporations
  involved took that money and then cherry picked the
  markets. The nearby town already had cable modem
  access to broadband and DSL but the money goes there
  instead of to the outlaying areas for which it was
  intended.
  
  Oh, there is all the dark fiber that was laid but no
  upgrade to the CO until they can carry TV and other
  crap to bundle up with the broadband.
  
  Don't forget... I'm not debating IF this subsidy should
  be in place. Personally I don't think it's fair to
  expect my broadband access be subsidized. I'm upset that
  right or wrong the BILLIONS have been spent and there's
  diddly-squat to show for it. Some of that money was my
  tax dollars as well.
  
  So I've subsidzed the broadband access of people living
  in town, not the other way around. Or more correctly,
  the operations of broadband providers that took that
  money then didn't deliver the service.
  
  Screw the telco. A 5GHz back haul link isn't expensive.
  All I need is some roof space and a DSL line in town.

   

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  Anonymous Coward, May 2nd, 2007 @ 2:34pm

  
  

  Re: Trade-Offs and a point missed.

  Screw the telco. A 5GHz back haul link isn't expensive. All I need is some roof space and a DSL line in town.

  So you say, but yet you haven't done it.

   

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  Anonymous of Course, May 3rd, 2007 @ 6:39am

  
  

  Re: Re: Trade-Offs and a point missed.

  I'm working on it. I have to find a site in
  town with a willing landlord and a clear view
  of my hill.
  
  The newer equipment which runs on POE makes the
  installation a breeze and it's license free so
  no dinking with the FCC.
  
  In the mid-70's, last time I installed a microwave
  data link, it was more difficult, expensive and
  provided less bandwidth.
  
  It's also not a high priority because I commute
  to work where bandwidth is plentiful.

   

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  rEdEyEz, May 2nd, 2007 @ 3:24pm

  
  

  Don't blame the corporations...

  From the article:
  "If you don't fix this, I guarantee you this committee will," House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn.) told James M. Andrew, administrator of the Rural Utilities Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "I don't know why it should be this hard."
  
  Key word: "subsidy"
  Problem: committee subsidy OVERSIGHT
  
  In my many years of working in the world of engineering, I have never met a contractor that will OFFER you "something more" than YOU asked/paid for, nor will they DO more than YOU asked/paid for.
  
  ...looks like SOMEONE took the money and ran...
  
  Hmmm, I'd bet that money went to districts/companies to help pay off election/appointee supporters...

   

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  Rick, May 2nd, 2007 @ 3:28pm

  
  

  I'm trying to find a house outside a town of about 20,000 people in northern Michigan, but it's becoming impossible to find one with broadband access. I earn my living online, so it's a necessity.
  
  I'd really love to live there, but it's sad to see myself considering not moving where I dream to live because I can't access the internet properly.
  
  I honestly doubt the government cares.

   

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  Charles Griswold, May 2nd, 2007 @ 4:19pm

  
  

  Re:

  I honestly doubt the government cares.

  
  Bingo. Individual people (including public employees and elected officials) may care, but the government is not a thinking, feeling entity. It does not care.

   

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  frank burns, May 3rd, 2007 @ 2:29pm

  
  

  Rural Broadband

  Hi There, I'm located 300klms from the nearest city of Perth in Western Australia and I too, are in a remote rural corner. I have the technology & services here for ADSL from Telstra. Perhaps if you were to negotiate a deal with Telstra they may help you override the difficulties that you're having. The Australian Government adopted a plan with Telstra's involvement (HIBIS) to get all rural & remote subscribers on line in par with our city counterparts. Well, it worked and as a consumer of these services I haven't looked back at the days when I was on dial-up. Good Luck.

   

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  David Hagan, May 4th, 2007 @ 9:48am

  
  

  Rural Broadband

  It is very important to develop a broadband map of America. This map would provide an infrastructure assessment of broadband availability throughout the U.S. Coupling this map with public reporting of actual broadband speeds, reliability, and prices would allow broadband build-out to be done more efficiently.
  
  Take a look at what has been accomplished by ConnectKentucky at http://www.connectkentucky.org. There are some states that are successfully developing partnerships to expand broadband penetration into rural areas. You should also look at CWA's campaign called Speed Matters at http://www.speedmatters.org. The site details specific long term and short term proposals to build a fast, affordable, open, internet for all Americans.
  
  As a member of CWA I appreciate the efforts of CWA to educate its members and the general public about high speed Internet issues and America's low performance compared with other countries.

   

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  Snookybear (profile), May 20th, 2010 @ 7:42pm

  
  

  Rural areas are ignored

  My rural area outside of Hohenwald, Tennessee has been ignored. AT&T/ Bellsouth along with Charter Communications refuse to service this rural area due to the fact that it is a lower elevation and it is nothing but hills surrounding this community. I have communicated with workers in the field for AT&T and they esxplained to me that their company expanded one to one and a half miles farther out of the towns that they serve along with upgrading the infrastructure of the larger metropolitan areas. They claim that they have rural broadband.

   

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