Access to broadband internet is vital to full participation in today’s society. The increase in quality of life gained through a good education and exposure to culture and entertainment can be furthered or hampered by broadband access.
Effective Telehealth, telemedicine and communications services for people with disabilities can even affect one’s health and longevity. Electronic government (E-government), public safety, homeland security information, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and disaster information can be quickly communicated where broadband is available.
Economic development is definitely impacted by broadband access and this can have a major impact on your family’s earning power.
In Kimball, Tenn., as in many parts of the state, we have the haves and the have not’s. A distance of a few hundred feet can mean the difference between access to quality service or exorbitantly high priced “spotty” service.
I live 900 feet from existing Charter Communications customers / lines. The last time I requested service, Charter offered me a great deal. For a mere $9,000, they would perform an engineering study to determine the cost of running the 900 feet of cable and therefore to cost to me for the service. I took this as a “talk to the hand” kind of offer.
Blue Bridge Media comes within a quarter mile but states that they have no plans to extend their service area. Bell South / AT&T have twice sold me the equipment with the assurance that I would have great service. Both times, after paying service fees, I was told “you are too far from the hub to get a signal that the equipment must have to operate”.
This leaves me with Verizon. Verizon provides a good quality service but when grandchildren come over to visit and do their homework, the expense can be high.
All of the above mentioned companies and their lobbyists while espousing the virtues of competition strongly oppose any move to allow any entity to serve Tennessee citizens that they have deemed too expensive to serve.
On March 22 Senator Janice Bowling will be presenting Senate bill 1134 in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. This bill allows municipalities who provide broadband and internet services within their service areas to provide these same services outside their service areas. If you live in one of the underserved or non-served areas, you know of the disadvantages you experience. If you do not, imagine what it would be like to do so. Please support this legislative action.
Brian Bradford
Kimball, Tenn.