Legislators and rural advocates correctly argue that gaining access to state-of-the-art telecommunications services is critical to the survival of rural communities and businesses in a global economy. Young people who feel isolated by the absence of technology used while traveling or at college, are less likely to return home to establish a business or career. Entrepreneurs are less likely to invest in their business in a rural setting if they are not able to access telecommunications services essential to growth by efficiently accessing suppliers and customers from around the world. Finally, a lack of access to high-speed broadband will impede efforts to establish tele-medicine services for rural communities that may lack a hospital or even a doctor.
Just ran across a quick summary of the bill in Lexology, a legal newsletter. http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=416e6bc5-5149-4743-b156-5bbea7fd0cf2 They did a great job outlining the change the bill could bring to rural MN:
Legislators and rural advocates correctly argue that gaining access to state-of-the-art telecommunications services is critical to the survival of rural communities and businesses in a global economy. Young people who feel isolated by the absence of technology used while traveling or at college, are less likely to return home to establish a business or career. Entrepreneurs are less likely to invest in their business in a rural setting if they are not able to access telecommunications services essential to growth by efficiently accessing suppliers and customers from around the world. Finally, a lack of access to high-speed broadband will impede efforts to establish tele-medicine services for rural communities that may lack a hospital or even a doctor.