Rural innovation is just beginning, thanks to broadband

In today’s interconnected world where American competitiveness on the global stage turns more than ever on the nationwide quality and capability of connections, “good enough” isn’t good enough when it comes to internet access, whether at home, at work or on the go. A robust, reliable and affordable broadband connection is a necessity to participate in an increasingly online world. The ability to create with the click of a mouse or the touch of a screen is democratizing innovation. Looking closer, it’s clear who has stepped up to make robust, reliable and affordable broadband connectivity a reality in rural America. The data confirm that community-based providers have led the charge by leveraging a strong local commitment, private capital, and government loan and support programs to ensure that millions of rural Americans have access to voice and broadband connectivity that is reasonably comparable in price and quality to those in urban areas. A backstop of relative regulatory certainty—continued efforts to clear inefficient “regulatory underbrush” paired with steady common-sense rules of the road that provide predictability for long-term investments in deeply rural markets—has only furthered these efforts.

[Mike Romano is CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association.]