Plans by President-elect Barack Obama to improve the nation's Internet infrastructure are good for Nebraska.
Posted: Saturday, December 27, 2008 6:00 pm
Plans by President-elect Barack Obama to improve the nation’s Internet infrastructure are good for Nebraska.
As a sparsely populated rural state, Nebraska is not viewed as profitable terrain by private companies. Public investment could help level the playing field.
Other countries have sped ahead of the United States in providing high-speed Internet connections. The United States ranks only 15th among 30 industrialized countries in broadband access.
Access to affordable high-speed Internet service remains spotty in Nebraska. Some parts of the state have only the option of relatively high-cost Internet connection by satellite, which often requires a big up-front investment.
So far, Obama has spoken of his plans only in general terms. “Here in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online, because that’s how we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world,” Obama said.
In Nebraska, development of affordable Internet access has been slowed by a powerful rural telephone company lobby that persuaded the Legislature to prohibit use of publicly owned infrastructure or involvement of publicly owned Internet providers.
It would be in Nebraska’s best interests if future infrastructure investment here were aimed mainly at improving high-speed wireless access. Some experts predict that in another decade most Internet access will be by mobile devices like iPhones.
Those devices are evolving rapidly and growing exponentially in computing power and memory. Already, the more advanced smart phones are basically small computers that can do many of the same things a laptop or desktop computer did a decade ago.
Over the years, users of wireless phones in Nebraska have paid millions of dollars in taxes to landline phone companies. Only recently has some of that tax money been awarded to improving wireless service in rural Nebraska, where customers are few.
It’s true, as landline companies point out, that even wireless Internet connections depend on a robust landline system including fiber optic networks. Development of bandwidth involves more than just putting up a few more cell towers. It’s important that new landline investment be designed for future wireless networks.
The possibility of new funding for Internet infrastructure already has set off a scramble among telecommunication companies to position themselves for future benefit in what one lobbyist called a “telecom takefest,” according to the Washington Post.
Obviously, safeguards will be needed to ensure that spending decisions are made in the public’s best interests. Done wisely, an investment in Internet infrastructure will pay dividends in improving economic vitality and quality of life in Nebraska.