The rural netroots need broadband

Last week, I attended the Netroots Nation conference in Pittsburgh. The Conference gave me a terrific perspective on just how much broadband matters to activists. As I spoke with conference attendees, I was glad to be able to share with them our Benefits of Broadband booklet, a compilation of our fact sheets about the importance of broadband to Health Care, the Environment, Education and many other areas.

I attended several panels on rural issues and one message came through loud and clear - rural activists were reaching out for help from the netroots community to tell their stories because, in many cases, the lack of broadband in rural areas prevents people in those areas from speaking for themselves. In fact, only 46% of adults in rural areas subscribe to broadband, and in many cases that access is via slow and less reliable satellite connections

In the past few years, participation in our democracy has come to depend more and more on using online communications tools. As we say in our fact sheet on Bridging the Digital Divide:

High speed Internet access has become vital to the success of individuals and communities. Our nation’s commitment to equal economic opportunity, educational advancement, and democratic participation can only thrive if everyone has equivalent access to these critical communications networks. As important as it is to our country to ensure access to what we think of as more traditional resources or services for all citizens, closing the digital divide in America strengthens the entire country economically and socially.

I'm proud of the work Speed Matters and our allies have done to start to close the digital divide and am looking forward to continue to make progress in this critical area.

Speed Matters proud to sponsor Netroots Nation (Speed Matters)

Benfits of Broadband (Speed Matters)

Pew broadband report reveals penetration disparity and broadband roadblocks (Speed Matters)

Bridging the Digital Divide (Speed Matters)