An analysis of the failure of U.S. broadband policy to solve the
rural-urban digital divide, with a proposal for a new national rural
broadband plan.
As much of daily life migrates online, broadband--high-speed internet
connectivity--has become a necessity. The widespread lack of broadband
in rural America has created a stark urban-rural digital divide. In
Farm Fresh Broadband, Christopher Ali analyzes the promise and the
failure of national rural broadband policy in the United States and
proposes a new national broadband plan. He examines how broadband
policies are enacted and implemented, explores business models for
broadband providers, surveys the technologies of rural broadband, and
offers case studies of broadband use in the rural Midwest.
Ali argues that rural broadband policy is both broken and incomplete:
broken because it lacks coordinated federal leadership and incomplete
because it fails to recognize the important roles of communities,
cooperatives, and local providers in broadband access. For example,
existing policies favor large telecommunication companies, crowding out
smaller, nimbler providers. Lack of competition drives prices up--rural
broadband can cost 37 percent more than urban broadband. The federal
government subsidizes rural broadband by approximately $6 billion. Where
does the money go?
Ali proposes democratizing policy architecture for rural broadband,
modeling it after the wiring of rural America for electricity and
telephony. Subsidies should be equalized, not just going to big
companies. The result would be a multistakeholder system, guided by
thoughtful public policy and funded by public and private support.