To the editor:
A recent article published on Newsblaze.com “Small Towns Line Up for $7.2 Billion in High-Speed Internet Funds” spoke of efforts in Akron, Ohio to obtain stimulus money for the purpose of bringing wireless broadband “into every home and business within the city limits.”
The potential benefits of such a plan are enormous. Akron’s unemployment rate hovers close to 10 percent; which is higher than the national average. If Akron is successful in securing $7 million in stimulus funds it is estimated that roughly 400 new jobs in construction and network administration will come from that funding alone.
Raul Katz of Columbia Business School has estimated that that money spent by these 400 newly employed workers would generate another 320 local jobs.
That short-term gain barely scratches the surface of the impact freely available broadband will have on the Akron, Ohio area. As the Newsblaze.com article quoted the Akron deputy mayor of administration, plentiful broadband will be an indispensible tool for training workers with new skills-making them more competitive in an increasingly tough job market.
But none of this can happen with just the wave of the magic stimulus wand. Outdated telecommunications laws designed around switchboards and rotary phones need to be overhauled to fall in line with the nature of modern technology. Without this needed reform, more money can be wasted in administrative overhead and red tape instead of being plowed into construction efforts.
If we want the benefits of ever-present broadband, we need to contact our elected officials and tell them to clear the way for unhindered broadband development.
Randall Skoglund is executive director of Americans for Technology Leadership, a broad-based coalition focused, in part, on public policy issues affecting the technology industry.
Randall Skoglund
Executive Director
Americans for Technology Leadership
1401 K Street NW, Suite 502
Washington, DC 20005
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