1. By: Isaac Swanson
Eastern Washington University
Urban and Regional Planning
Rural and Small Town
Planning 471
2/21/2016
Connecting Rural America

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The internet has changed connectivity around the globe. The digital age has connected people
and businesses, created, and produced many social groups and entrepreneurs, as well as
influenced culture by sharing traditions, thoughts, and ideals. High-speed internet has propelled
modern society allowing for information, education, and economic prospects access at the touch
of fingertips. Yet, many small towns and rural communities throughout America do not have
adequate access to high-speed internet. This lack of digital infrastructure is detrimental to rural
regions across the United States.
What is Broadband?
Broadband is a wired infrastructure framework
that allows for high-speed information access
via the internet using one or more methods of
transmission technology. It is much faster than
dial-up services providing residents and
businesses fast upload and download speeds.
Transmission via broadband is digital,
converting text, image, and sound into
electronic bits of data in streams of zeros and ones. The cable and fiber optic broadband lines
transmit data much faster than traditional telephone or wireless connections (FCC, 2015).
Broadband internet service can be provided over several different infrastructure platforms.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a means of transmission technology that transmits data over
traditional copper telephone lines that are already installed in homes and businesses (FCC,
2015). Another method of broadband service provides connectivity through cable lines to a
home or office using the same coaxial cables that transfer television service. A cable modem is
able to receive digital signal for internet simultaneously as a television set without disrupting
Broadband Internet:
Connecting Rural America
By: Isaac Swanson

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service to either (FCC, 2015). Fiber optic technology transfers electrical signals into light pulses
that sends data through transparent glass fibers at light speed. This method of data
transportation exceeds speed of both DSL and cable (FCC, 2015). Wireless Fidelity or Wi-Fi
connects end-users to a local internet service over shore-range wireless radio technology.
Wireless can be dispersed through public “hot spots” or through fixed directional antennas
providing access over longer distances by direct link. Wireless is also widely available from
mobile providers. However, wireless technology is slower than wired broadband connections
and has a limited data transfer rate (FCC, 2015). Satellite service is useful in very remote or
sparsely populated areas. Satellite speeds vary based on service provider and package. While
able to provide faster speeds, satellite is expensive and limited by orbit range and weather
conditions (FCC, 2015). Typically, all wired broadband alternatives are faster.
Broadband internet connection is a
fundamental utility and tool in
expanding educational and economic
opportunities for consumers in rural
areas. By providing access, broadband
connectivity allows people to take
advantage of services that are
currently not available in many rural communities through dial-up connections. VoIP (Voice over
Internet Protocol) is an alternative to traditional telephone services via broadband internet that
can be used with teleconferencing or telecommuting for meetings. Broadband also makes
telemedicine possible; this is particularly useful in rural areas where patients can confer with
doctors over the internet to get simple diagnosis quickly instead of having to travel long
distances to urban areas for healthcare checkups. Faster internet connections also provide fast
efficient access and use of many cultural and learning resources, such as college classes or
senior education programs (FCC, 2015). Another advantage to having broadband access is a
quick easy way to do online shopping. These are examples of just a few benefits that
broadband internet connections would bring to rural communities throughout America.

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Broadband – Four Rural Americas:
There are four main characteristics brought up by the authors of Place Matters (Hamilton,
Hamilton, Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008) that categorize each rural region and small town. These
four broad categories capture significant highlights: [1] amenity rich, [2] declining resource
dependent, [3] chronic poverty, and [4] amenity declining. Each of these categories has a
unique need for Broadband internet connection that could solve many current and future
problem throughout the communities.
[1] Amenity rich regions have quality access to natural and scenic qualities and recreation
opportunities. There are usually higher levels of employment, income, and educational
achievement within these areas. Amenity rich regions tend to have growing population from in
migration to favorable communities (Hamilton, Hamilton, Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008).
In amenity rich regions, broadband would
help advertise the natural and scenic
features of a community as well as
highlight the recreational opportunities
through imagery, video, and websites.
Online connectivity would allow for
residents to telecommute and visitors to
continue to stay updated during their stay.
Broadband connectivity could potentially draw new residents to amenity rich communities by
displaying special community features that would draw in and encourage incubator companies,
entrepreneurships, and businesses that might not otherwise locate in the region.
[2] Declining resource dependent communities have fundamental economies that are built
around timber, agriculture, or mining industries. Many of these communities have experienced a
boom-bust cycle. Demographically there are older long-term residents, but there is a severe out
migration of youth. These Declining resource dependent rural communities and towns tend to
have religious and conservative core values (Hamilton, Hamilton, Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008).

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Resource dependent communities would be
greatly impacted by the expansion of
broadband internet to serve them. Schools
and libraries would be greatly benefitted with
a fast broadband web connection.
Broadband would help local businesses and
farms be able to advertise and order or send
shipments of goods. This would also help network businesses to other local communities.
Broadband would also be a factor in bringing youth back to the community as well as attracting
other people who could telecommute for work. Broadband could help bolster the declining
resource industry the community has experienced or it could bring in new economic
development. This additional economic growth stemmed from broadband connectivity would
create a more stable, diverse economy that would benefit the community, which in turn would
bring in an influx of residents relocating from other regions.
[3] Many rural and small town communities are considered chronically poor and impoverished
throughout the United States. These areas have a long history of hardships with decades of
resource depletion and underinvestment. Communities in these poorer regions have many
vacant buildings and struggling businesses. In many cases, community or city services and
needs based resource institutions have closed or relocated to other regions to consolidate
costs. The remaining civic institutions and leadership is relatively weak in supporting the
community. Educational and economic resources have been minimized. These regions are

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continuously ignored and forgotten by policy and development initiatives (Hamilton, Hamilton,
Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008).
These chronically poor rural areas would benefit greatly from installation of high-speed
broadband internet connections. Connecting libraries and schools would allow students access
to various educational methods including research, video links, and college classes. Broadband
would also allow for social networking and connectivity in isolated areas. High-speed internet
would connect civic institutions and community leaders more easily. More importantly, this
digital connection has the potential for technical assistance grant initiatives as well as providing
a connection to state and federal agencies. The addition of a regional broadband network has
the potential to attract businesses and corporations to these impoverished areas. Online
shopping would also be available for inexpensive shopping and delivery methods. Broadband
could be a medical link to these poorer regions, or at least give an alternate option for medical
treatments. These impoverished areas also would reap the same benefits that both amenity rich
and resource dependent communities would receive via broadband internet service.
[4] Amenity decline is the last of the four types of
rural communities in America. These areas tend to
be small towns or regions that are in a transitional
economic phase, somewhere between resource-
reliant, amenity-based, and chronically poor. The
volatility of markets can leave some of these
amenity decline based communities in an unstable
limbo. These communities have a mix of characteristics from amenity rich and declining
resource economies at various stages of development, some of which teeter on the brink of
turning into impoverished areas (Hamilton, Hamilton, Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008).
High-speed broadband internet service would help stabilize these amenity-declining
communities and would set the framework for new potential commerce and industry. Since
these amenity decline based communities are in transition, high-speed internet availability

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would have the same benefit as those of amenity rich or declining resource dependent
communities. It would bring new jobs, allow for better global access and connectivity, improve
educational opportunities, and allow a community to advertise and share its assets on the World
Wide Web.
Rural Broadband Disparities:
Today the world is a highly global and interactive place that has become socially and
economically connected through the age of technology and the rise of the internet. A high-speed
broadband internet connection is considered by current standards to be a necessity, not a
luxury. Yet, a surprisingly high number where 55 million Americans do not have high-speed
broadband internet access with speeds over 25 Megabytes per second (Mbps). This digital
divide disproportionately hurts rural America (Tiernan, 2015).
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filed a 2015 report that found that 17 percent
of the U.S. population lacks access to advanced broadband internet connections. Over half of
all rural Americans lack internet access with 25 Mbps of service. This report also lists details
that 53 percent of rural Americans (22 million people) lack access to broadband. Both
Americans living on Tribal lands and Americans living in U.S. territories lack broadband internet
access by 63 percent (2.5 million and 2.6 million people, respectively) (Tiernan, 2015).
Even local government officials and news writers in small towns throughout America do not
have good connections or broadband access. For instance, in the town of Coffeeville Alabama,
the county administrator cannot get broadband access at her house and neither can the
sportswriter for the Thomasville Times (Severson, 2011). In small towns like Coffeeville, the only
computer most students ever touch is at the local high school, creating an untold number of
missed opportunities. A study done by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that
only one fifth of adults do not use the internet because they feel it is not relevant to their lives.

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Many of these people reside in rural areas or small towns and do not have access to
broadband, if any internet connections (Severson, 2011).
While there are thousands of
miles of fiber optic broadband
lines that run through rural
communities, most have been
bypassed to link urban areas
together as well as providing
access worldwide. The greatest
challenge for rural communities
and small towns has been to get local service providers to connect the proverbial “last mile” to
the broadband network when there is not the infrastructure to do so (Miller, 2015). If government
and private sector leaders fail to find creative ways to connect small towns with the digital
highway, it will mean an economic collapse for rural communities and small towns, creating a
larger economic disparity between urban centers and rural regions across America.
Broadband Connections – Solutions and Opportunities:
As a part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Obama has worked
towards a goal that would require both the private and public sectors to invest more than $260
billion into new broadband infrastructure that would bring high-speed internet to all Americans.
Under the president’s initiative, the investment in broadband infrastructure has empowered rural
America to continue leading the way while strengthening the economy of small towns and rural
communities to help reduce the digital divide (USDA, 2015).
The Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) is part of this high-speed
broadband initiative. BTOP offers $4 billion in grants that is administered by the National
Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) in an effort to create jobs, improve

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education, healthcare, and public safety in rural and small
town communities across America (Tiernan, 2015). Also as a
part of this broadband connectivity initiative, Comprehensive
Community Infrastructure (CCI) projects, which are funded by
NTIA through BTOP, have led to the creation and expansion of
the “middle mile” network connections between rural
communities and broadband mainlines. This program has
already installed more than 113 thousand miles of fiber optic
lines across the country. It has connected or upgraded over 25
thousand community anchor institutions like schools and
libraries. The program has also signed more than 860
interconnection agreements to small towns and rural
communities with local service providers (Tiernan, 2015).
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has also
provided funding as a part of the 2009 American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. So far, the USDA has awarded 74
Community Connect grants that total more than $85 million to
construct broadband projects in rural areas that previously did
not have any high-speed internet service. This is the
equivalent of bringing broadband access to 1.5 million
households, businesses, education, and public safety facilities
across the United States (USDA, 2015). As USDA Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack stated, “Broadband is fundamental to
expanding economic opportunity and job creation in rural
areas, and it is as vital to rural America’s future today as
electricity was when [the] USDA began bringing power to rural
America 80 years ago.”
“Broadband is
fundamental to
expanding economic
opportunity and job
creation in rural areas,
and it is as vital to rural
America’s future today
as electricity was when
[the] USDA began
bringing power to rural
America 80 years ago.”
USDA Agriculture
Secretary
Tom Vilsack

10. 9
The Community Connect Program specifically supports bringing broadband service to extremely
rural and lower-income communities while stimulating economic development and opportunities
in rural areas by generating practical everyday uses and applications for broadband services.
The current application of this program says that proposed projects must serve a rural area
where broadband transmission service does not exist. The program requires service providers
to offer service at the speed level that is stated in the grant to all residential and business
customers. The grant program also specifically states that service to critical community facilities
must be provided free of charge for a minimum of two years (Tiernan, 2015).
There is still much work to do bringing high-speed broadband connectivity to rural America.
However, the current federal and private grant programs have significantly helped bridge the
digital divide between urban and rural America. If more steps are taken to construct and secure
digital connectivity, rural America will again flourish next to its urban counterparts.
Broadband – Economic Impacts:
Several cities and rural communities have already benefitted from high-speed broadband
internet connectivity. Here, economic growth and development have flourished. As suggested
earlier in this paper, beautiful rural settings have the potential to host telecommuters,
entrepreneurs selling wares online, students studying or taking college courses, and
professionals linking with networks in the cloud. Even farmers need good internet access for
marketing goods and creating purchase orders to advance their enterprise (Miller, 2015).
An impact study produced by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA) has shown progress of rural communities and small towns that have connected to high-
speed broadband internet over the last two years. This impact study has shown an estimated 2
percent higher economic growth rate in communities that have broadband availability compared
to communities that have not. Economic growth in these communities has been estimated to
generate an increase in economic activity between $5.17 billion and $21 billion annually

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(Tiernan, 2015). This is a considerable monetary spread of actual economic impacts. Yet, each
of the communities that have recently connected to high-speed broadband internet has seen
economic returns in billions of dollars. The continuing addition and maintenance of broadband
infrastructure in rural areas is expected to create more than 22 thousand long-term jobs and is
expected to generate more than $1 billion in additional household income every year. Also, as a
part of this study, schools, libraries, and other anchor institutions served by BTOP grants,
experienced a significant increase in internet connection speeds with lower overhead costs.
A report from the Massachusetts Municipal Association, under the seventh partnership principal,
states that it should be a state’s responsibility to invest in technology for public and private
infrastructure at both the state and local level to ensure sustainability and expansion in a
modern economy. This report also states that broadband connectivity, in particular, promotes
economic development, stimulates innovation, and improves the quality and efficiency of
municipal services.
A prime example of small town and rural success is
the City of Ephrata, in Grant County, Washington.
While far away from urban life, associated with Silicon
Valley, this small town of 7 thousand people
surprisingly has the fastest internet in the nation. The
county originally created its broadband infrastructure
from a Public Utility District (PUD) where internet
connectivity to rural areas was connected through a primary ISP (Internet Service Provider)
iFIBER Communications (Sankin, 2013). Gizmodo, an online tech blog site, has found that not
only has the Grant County PUD continued to increase its performance speed, but that there is a
positive correlation between internet speed and both median income and population density.
The higher the internet speed, the higher the income and population. The original intent of
iFIBER and the Grant County PUD was to provide inexpensive residential and small business
customers with high-speed broadband connections. Already several data centers have

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relocated to Grant County due to a combination of low climate temperatures, access to
inexpensive hydroelectric power, and the lightning fast broadband internet connection. The PUD
says that about 11 percent of its revenues come from providing wholesale broadband service to
its largest customers, including data centers (Sankin, 2013).
The basis for linking rural America to the urban centers is fundamentally sound. The economic
benefits that each rural community or small town reap is necessary and ideal. Several studies
have already shown the positive effect that high-speed broadband connection has on rural
communities and their economies.
Conclusion:
Broadband infrastructure is a fixed investment. The costs are the same whether it delivers
service to 7 thousand or 700 thousand people. Yet, the price is worth the investment. If rural
communities want to attract businesses, they need to invest in high-speed broadband internet
infrastructure and connections, because low-level service is not going to give a competitive
advantage. More importantly, in constructing these broadband internet connections, rural
communities and small towns can stay socially and economically connected to the rest of the
country.
Economically, high-speed broadband internet has not only connected urban centers, but also
the world as a global engine. In small towns and rural areas that have used federal and state
grant money or PUDs to expand broadband connectivity the communities have flourished. It is a
primary solution to stimulating and growing small town economies, retaining a younger
population as well as offering better educating opportunities, providing the opportunity for small
business and entrepreneurs to flourish. Broadband internet access will stem the outflow of
people to the cities, by allowing the social and economic connectivity to come to them. There is
great potential for the 22 million disconnected people living in the Four Rural Americas.

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All Americans, throughout the county, deserve to have access to the same quality of life
standard; after all, America is the land of opportunity. Having high-speed internet connectivity
will unify the nation socially and economically and it will allow small rural businesses to have the
same advantage as their urban competitors. Broadband internet will connect rural entrepreneurs
and students giving uncounted opportunities for success. More importantly, it will open the job
markets for employees and businesses to locate in any community they desire.

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References:
FCC. (2015, November 4th). Getting Broadband. Retrieved from Federal Communications Commission:
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/getting-broadband
Hamilton, L., Hamilton, L., Duncan, C., & Colocousis, C. (2008). Place Matters. Durham, New Hampshire:
Carsey Institute | University of New Hampshire.
Holmes, A. (2015, February 14). Small towns and Internet giants await decision on broadband service.
Retrieved from Reveal: https://www.revealnews.org/article/small-towns-and-internet-giants-
await-decision-on-broadband-service/
Miller, L. (2015, May 19). Growth of small towns limited by lack of high-speed Internet. Retrieved from
CenteralMaine.com: http://www.centralmaine.com/2015/05/19/growth-small-towns-limited-
by-lack-of-high-speed-internet/
Sankin, A. (2013, Nov. 19). How a tiny Washington town ended up with America's fastest Internet.
Retrieved from The Daily Dot: http://www.dailydot.com/technology/ephrata-washington-
fastest-internet-us/
Severson, K. (2011, FEB. 17). Digital Age Is Slow to Arrive in Rural America. Retrieved from New York
Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/18broadband.html
Tiernan, T. (2015, July 30). Broadband Initiatives for Small-Town America. Retrieved from
INTERNATIONAL CITY/COUNTY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION:
http://icma.org/en/icma/knowledge_network/blogs/blogpost/3737/Broadband_Initiatives_for_
SmallTown_America
USDA. (2015, July 20). USDA Announces Funding for Rural Broadband Projects. Retrieved from United
States Department of Agriculture:
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2015/07/0212.xml