Roughly 40 percent of Americans do not have high-speed Internet access at home, according to new Commerce Department figures that underscore the challenges facing policymakers who are trying to bring affordable broadband connections to everyone.
In the Highlands of Virginia, some interesting changes are taking place. The Highlands have two high speed Internet providers. Shentel, the cable company, and nTelos the telephone company. Both have recently updated to fiber optic technology and can provide fairly fast Internet to many. Unfortunately there are still areas that have to rely on dialup or satellite Internet (MUCH SLOWER!).
nTelos has just received an $8 million grant that it will match to provide fiber optic Internet to every household in Alleghany County. The money comes from one of the stimulus packages. The time table is to complete this project by 2012. There are many of my customers who can hardly wait for this to happen. High speed (also called broadband) Internet has become a necessity in the USA. So much of our society has swung to doing day to day business on the Internet.
My mom is a good example of this. During our evening call last night, she asked if I could do her a favor. She had recently bought a new vacuum cleaner with a two year warranty. To activate the warranty she needed to register the vacuum on line. Mom has dial up Internet in Ohio (by choice - High Speed is available) and she said it was too slow so could I help? Well, of course i could, but I thought it was interesting that even vacuum cleaner manufacturers are using the Internet for day to day business.
The USA needs more projects like this nTelos one to get 100% high speed Internet coverage throughout the land. We have had 98% telephone (land line) coverage in this country for years. Next month, the Federal Communications Commission will deliver policy recommendations to Congress on how to make universal broadband a reality. Among other things, the FCC is expected to propose expanding the fund that subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural communities and finding more airwaves for wireless broadband services.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
#173 - Communication Style
Serving on several boards that are concerned with communications, I'm finding it interesting that the different generations in this country communicate vastly differently.
Although my Mom has email, she would still rather talk to me on the phone. Her phone is her lifeline to the world and any disruption to phone service (like the genius that crashed into the phone poll this weekend) is tantamount to a natural disaster.
All my peers are very email oriented. I'm not sure why we are, but we have adopted the email as our main communication form. We have cell phones, some belong to Facebook, some even twitter, but its the email that gets my generation moving. I have so enjoyed reconnecting with my high school friends via Facebook, but I don't do Farmville or any of the other Social Network add-ons. This is mainly due to my time is limited for that type of activity.
The nieces and nephews do email, but they seem to have adopted Facebook more so then my generation. I believe their work requires the email so they mostly use it there. They are cell phone addicts and would never be caught without it. They text a bit and post pictures with abandon everywhere.
The younger teens and twenties are different. Email seems an imposition to them. Its all about the latest phone. Facebook and Twitter are the rage, BECAUSE they can be accessed by their phones. Their cell phone (Many can't remember a time without them) is their communications life. They ALWAYS answer their phone no matter what they are doing (use that to advantage old people!). Any restrictions on phone use are as if the Constitution is under attack. A phone is judged on how well you can text from it. I'm thinking that the next generation will have the most dexterous thumbs of any human.
Anyway you communicate - Keep talking. Silence may be golden, but it doesn't make anything better.
Although my Mom has email, she would still rather talk to me on the phone. Her phone is her lifeline to the world and any disruption to phone service (like the genius that crashed into the phone poll this weekend) is tantamount to a natural disaster.
All my peers are very email oriented. I'm not sure why we are, but we have adopted the email as our main communication form. We have cell phones, some belong to Facebook, some even twitter, but its the email that gets my generation moving. I have so enjoyed reconnecting with my high school friends via Facebook, but I don't do Farmville or any of the other Social Network add-ons. This is mainly due to my time is limited for that type of activity.
The nieces and nephews do email, but they seem to have adopted Facebook more so then my generation. I believe their work requires the email so they mostly use it there. They are cell phone addicts and would never be caught without it. They text a bit and post pictures with abandon everywhere.
The younger teens and twenties are different. Email seems an imposition to them. Its all about the latest phone. Facebook and Twitter are the rage, BECAUSE they can be accessed by their phones. Their cell phone (Many can't remember a time without them) is their communications life. They ALWAYS answer their phone no matter what they are doing (use that to advantage old people!). Any restrictions on phone use are as if the Constitution is under attack. A phone is judged on how well you can text from it. I'm thinking that the next generation will have the most dexterous thumbs of any human.
Anyway you communicate - Keep talking. Silence may be golden, but it doesn't make anything better.
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