Just days after CenturyLink announces Gig access in the Twin Cities, Comcast announces 2-Gig service. Apparently broadband begets broadband. (US Internet was the first provider to announce 10 Gig access in the area.) There are some details that are unknown – like pricing. Although the Minneapolis Star Tribune has created a pricing table for high speed broadband in the Twin Cities…

So that’s good news in the Twin Cities – but I know most of the readers are in rural areas. So what does that mean for rural areas?

Well – there’s the rising tide raises all boats theory. Now that the TCs are getting faster connections, will that mean that the speeds will rise in rural areas too? Or will the digital divide widen? I’m afraid the gap may widen, which means more than “folks can do things faster” in the Cities. It’s a matter of being able to do things differently – like run a business!

The other theory is the power of competition. Does competition have the same effect in rural areas where the business case hinges on take rates? It always seems like where there’s a market there’s a market for at least two providers; but then there are areas where there’s nothing. About a year ago I looked at the impact of competition (vs policy) in cable investment. Competition was a better predictor of further investment. But that wasn’t rural areas only

I’ve read enough feasibility studies to know that competition can also be a hindrance to business expansion. It’s easier to go into a market where there’s no competition – and I get that but I’m just not sure how much of a factor that really is.

Would competition beget competition in currently undeserved areas? Or does the utility model make more sense – one provider serving areas where competition hasn’t born out.