Senators urge Administration to invest in rural broadband

Baucus And Tester Say Broadband Key To Economic Development

(Washington D.C) – In an effort to create jobs in rural Montana, Montana’s Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester today urged the Obama Administration to use new federal dollars to develop broadband in rural communities.

In a letter sent today to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Commerce-National Telecommunications Information Administration, Baucus and Tester outlined ways to invest funding from the recently passed Jobs Bill (formerly known as the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act of 2009) designated for broadband development.

“As you begin to implement the broadband initiatives provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), we urge you to make deploying broadband to currently unserved areas your top priority.  Economic recovery will be difficult to achieve in rural communities without broadband access,” the Senators wrote.

The Senators said that many rural areas in Montana could be eligible for broadband development.

Baucus and Tester said investing in broadband would boost local economies and create jobs.

“Access to high speed internet is critically important. Broadband access to the Internet has significant impacts on the economic development of rural America.  It is a crucial driver of economic recovery, creating jobs and enhancing our global competitiveness,” they wrote.

Baucus and Tester were leaders in helping pass the Jobs Bill, which will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Montana, and help create or sustain jobs across the state.

Letter pasted below:

As you begin to implement the broadband initiatives provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), we urge you to make deploying broadband to currently unserved areas your top priority.  Economic recovery will be difficult to achieve in rural communities without broadband access.

Access to high speed internet is critically important. Broadband access to the Internet has significant impacts on the economic development of rural America.  It is a crucial driver of economic recovery, creating jobs and enhancing our global competitiveness.   In an increasingly globalized world, broadband access is an integral step for our education system's competitive edge.  By providing access to high-speed internet to places that only have dial-up connections broadband can help revitalize rural areas hardest hit by the recession, and then help rural America keep up with the urban areas once the recession ends.

In order to deploy broadband swiftly, but dependably, please consider utilizing rural telecoms.  They have the necessary expertise for dependably reaching unserved areas, but because of their locations will be able to quickly initiate projects in their area.  They understand where broadband is and is not in their respective locations.  Furthermore, because of rural telecoms existing presence in communities, they can more easily tap into existing networks and avoid previous shortfalls unique to rural settings.

Broadband access will also be important for rural health care services.  The large geographical distance between rural communities means that many Montanans must travel great distances to access health care services. Telecommunications usage has revolutionized health care services in rural areas of Montana by allowing residents to access specialized, quality care in their own communities. This not only saves Americans in rural places travel time and expense, but it provides consistent and continually improving care through their primary provider.
 
Without access to broadband, many rural communities will be unable to realize the benefits of economic recovery as intended in the ARRA.  The Administration has set a firm date for breaking ground on broadband construction.  Rural telecoms can ensure that 50% of the ARRA funds are committed to projects that can be initiated not later than 120 days after enactment (i.e., by August 17, 2009).  We also request your agency clearly defines the process you plan on following to award funds to rural telecom companies and to work to ensure the funding is deployed as expediently as possible.

We urge you to make deploying broadband to unserved areas your first priority in dispensing the considerable resources accorded to broadband by Congress in the ARRA.