Can the strategy that raised enough money for a new Packers' stadium finance a rural broadband network? Communities in Vermont and rural Lancashire, England, have kicked off efforts.
Nothing like competition and cash prizes to get businesses people fired up. In rural Vermont, contests for the best new business applications on the web -- plus training and mentoring -- are improving scores of local companies.
Three Lakes, Wisconsin, generated competition to get affordable
broadband and now is maximizing its economic impact by drawing small
businesses to town.
The national plan for supplying wireless Internet in rural areas needs
to push local partnerships. Franklin County, Virginia, and a small tech
company have the customers to prove it.
Middle-mile projects received most of the big broadband stimulus boost. To make it the last mile, and get service into the homes of rural residents, 47 communities in Western Massachusetts are working together.
How does a town of 5000 people in a sparsely populated region get its own fiber-to-household broadband system -- WITHOUT relying on federal funding? Powell, Wyoming, is one of the great broadband success stories of the decade.
Google has announced a new competition for super-fast fiber networks. Craig Settles explains what rural communities should consider before going after the megabits.