Rural Broadband

The Internet is no longer a luxury. From health care, to education, to economic development, the future of a rural America depends on a broadband policy that acknowledges communications as an essential human need and a fundamental human right. It needs to work for everyone.

As communities, states and the federal government actively begin to address today's broadband and communications challenges and opportunities, there are important principles, which should guide their work:

• Ensure universal access. This includes infrastructure (bandwidth) access, affordability for all income levels, workplace and public access, and multi-cultural and multi-language information access.

• Set broadband speed standards that will work for tomorrow. We need to make sure we don't get locked in a regulatory framework that limits us to obsolete technology.

• Protect the right to privacy - for both personal data and communications such as mail, e-mail and phone.

• Use public education to support media and digital literacy.

Taxpayer dollars should target unserved and underserved communities first. Broadband investments in those areas will bring higher productivity, improved education and quality health care to communities that need it most. But we can also take advantage of this opportunity to set policy for the long term.