Alan Morgan, Chief Executive Officer for the National Rural Health Association.

For people who live in rural areas, traveling considerable distances may be a necessity for work, shopping, school and health care. 

The distance may be an inconvenience at times, but it is an acceptable tradeoff for the benefits of rural life. But when it comes to health care, distance can be a matter of life and death.

Technology is helping to bridge that gap. High-speed wireless access is the most groundbreaking development in decades for rural health.  It allows patients and their doctors to connect remotely, exchange vital health information and conduct real-time video consultations. 

Those connections between rural patients and their physicians, however, are going to be increasingly dependent on broadband connections. And broadband connections in rural America will demand more investment and an expansion of the wireless spectrum — a topic now under consideration by the Federal Communications Commission. More spectrum will mean more and better care for rural Americans.

For example, apps have been developed that help monitor patients via smartphones and tablets.  A home health monitoring initiative is in the works. These kinds of breakthroughs will allow rural patients to be treated and monitored at home rather than at a hospital that may be many miles from families and support networks.

Morry Gash for AP Fans like Steve Gash of DeForest, WI, invested in the Packers to build a new stadium. The same kind of ardor and hustle can create a rural broadband network.

In Green Bay, WI, football fans bought shares in the team to build a new stadium. Local ardor and hustle can raise money for a broadband network, too. Though bumped out of Super Bowl contention, the Green Bay Packers leave broadband advocates with a win: a potent strategy for community ownership of this critical asset. 



In five weeks the community-owned Packers raised $70 million for refurbishing its football field by selling stock in the team. More incredible than raising so much money so quickly is that the $250 stock share price buys the investor very little. The stocks are untradeable, pay no dividends, and do not have securities-law protection. Investors don’t even get a game ticket. (There’s a really fun annual shareholders party at the team’s Lambeau Field, though.)



Examining the path Green Bay took to execute this fundraising feat uncovers the seeds for successfully financing a community broadband network. The three main ingredients are belief in the cause, sound planning and a solid needs assessment.



Clearly, belief in their biggest community asset – the Packers team – is phenomenally strong. A share of Packer stock probably isn’t worth much more than a case or two of beer if an investor sells it back to the team. However, to mimic that credit card ad, the pride of ownership apparently is priceless.



This investor strategy can work if constituents believe in the power of broadband to transform their community. But will constituents put their money where their faith is? Two communities are saying, “yes, we do.”