Editorial: Spreading the Web is good

Published 8:50 am Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Whether it is Sen. Al Franken questioning Judge Sonio Sotomayor about Internet legislation or the American Farm Bureau partnering with Connected Nation, it seems there is a general push in America for greater availability to the Internet.

It is an effort we support.

Connected Nation is a nonprofit that advocates for spreading technology availability and knowledge among underserved and overlooked populations.

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Brian Mefford, CEO of Connected Nation, said in the July 6 issue of FBNews, “Roughly 10 percent of households in the United States still do not have the opportunity to subscribe to broadband service at home. Rural communities account for the vast majority of these millions of unserved households as their relatively sparse populations have made it more costly for providers to offer service. Even in areas where service is already available, many families do not actually use broadband due to a number of factors, including affordability, lack of a computer in the home or lack of significant reasons to pay for a high-speed connection to the Internet at home.”

As technology accelerates, there are people who never joined the bandwagon and they are being left behind. For some folks, it’s their own choice. For others, as Mefford notes, there is no option. They are behind the technology curve simply because of where they live and work.

The Internet’s benefits to the economy are undeniable. They are like roads and someday as the Internet market increases it will stretch nearly anywhere.

We applaud efforts to get access to more areas. We applaud Connected Nation and Farm Bureau collaborating with farmers, ranchers and local officials to help “plan for their community’s technology future,” as Meffort puts it.