Here are a few interesting blogs and online articles published this week with news that relate to Rural Business, ending April 4, 2009:
This week the U.S. Senate confirmed by unanimous consent Karen Gordon Mills as the 23rd Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Several reports this week on the changing demographics of rural America, affecting who our customers, neighbors and employees might be. It seems that quite a number of U.S. veterans choosing to leave urban areas for rural America has increased more than 20 percent over the last ten years. One possible reason cited is that many veterans prefer to remain located around military bases after retirement, and many bases in urban areas (especially along the West Coast) have been closed. Apparently relocation to the southeastern US and to Idaho and Utah are the most commonly selected areas.
Earlier this week, I wrote about frustration in Great Britain regarding second home owners in rural areas, when their part time residence has effect on the ability of local businesses to survive year round.
And quite literally in a New York Minute, you can read an update on rural demographics across the country, and how our rural communities are home to residents who are older, more ethnically diverse, and more likely to be female than in the recent
past. The increasing racial diversity of rural areas, along with younger generations leaving and immigrant populations arriving, create challenges that most of rural America is already confronting. And even blogging about, as in Living Single in Small Town America.
Rural America received some news that sounded promising this week from Verizon Wireless, which announced plans to begin introduction of a wireless network in the 700 MHZ spectrum in 2010:
‘The licenses we bought in the 700MHz auction cover the whole US,’ says Tony Melone, a Verizon Wireless VP. ‘And we plan to roll out LTE [high-speed mobile service] throughout the entire country, including places where we don’t offer our [current] cell phone service today.’
Because the [700 MHz] spectrum is in a lower frequency, it can transmit signals over longer distances and penetrate through obstacles, and because the signals travel longer distances, Verizon can deploy fewer cell towers than if it used spectrum from a higher frequency band, which means it can provide coverage at a lower cost.”
However, there are those who say that the battle over rural broadband is just beginning and that Verizon, AT&T and other large wireless carriers and cable companies are actually blocking the Rural Broadband Stimulus:
“Verizon, Comcast, AT&T and other large wireless carriers and cable companies are behind lobbying efforts in state legislatures around the country to prohibit local governments from using federal stimulus money to build and manage their own broadband networks, critics contend. So far, they seem to be succeeding.
The federal broadband stimulus package provides $7.2 billion for projects that bring high-speed Internet connectivity to rural areas and towns in remote locations. The law gives priority to projects sponsored by governments in partnership with local Internet service providers (ISPs), but stimulus money can also go to national ISPs if there are no competing local projects.
Public interest groups and consumer advocates contend that incumbent ISPs are trying to prevent states from funding projects managed by local government entities, even in partnership with private companies.”
Just what we need, another delay to rural broadband. First no money, and now the money allocated to rural America is going to be fought over!
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