Farm Fresh Broadband Farm Fresh Broadband
Information Policy

Farm Fresh Broadband

The Politics of Rural Connectivity

    • $34.99
    • $34.99

Publisher Description

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.

GENRE
Professional & Technical
RELEASED
2021
September 21
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
306
Pages
PUBLISHER
MIT Press
SELLER
Penguin Random House Canada
SIZE
10.5
MB

More Books Like This

Reclaiming Information and Communication Technologies for Development Reclaiming Information and Communication Technologies for Development
2017
Information Communication Technology and Poverty Alleviation Information Communication Technology and Poverty Alleviation
2018
World Development Report 2021 World Development Report 2021
2021
Information Technology and Development Information Technology and Development
2004
Service Provision and Rural Sustainability Service Provision and Rural Sustainability
2018
A Future for Everyone A Future for Everyone
2004

More Books by Christopher Ali

Media Localism Media Localism
2017
Echoes of Gabriel Tarde Echoes of Gabriel Tarde
2014

Other Books in This Series

The Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust The Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust
2018
Design Justice Design Justice
2020
Virtual Economies Virtual Economies
2014
Privacy on the Ground Privacy on the Ground
2015
Cyberinsurance Policy Cyberinsurance Policy
2022
Decoding the Social World Decoding the Social World
2017