Last week there was an interesting letter to the editor in the St Paul Pioneer Press…

Does anybody remember what life was like in rural Minnesota before the rural electric co-op came to the farm? Telephones?  Why isn’t it obvious that the 21st century requires new development? It’s called broadband high-speed internet.

Modern life demands access, access by schools, hospitals and clinics, colleges, businesses and individuals. Private companies have been reluctant to lay the fiber-optic cable needed. So, where is the state?

Don’t you see the economic advantages we’d have if the state was wired? The jungles of Maui are wired for residents. Why aren’t the fields and meadows of Minnesota? Instead of trying to figure out a way to build a new mining industry in northern Minnesota, let’s embrace the future. Build a better internet and they will come. With their ideas, their visions and their investment dollars, they will come. The question is, will Minnesota receive them?

Carl Brookins, Roseville

I don’t know the author – but it’s great that even folk closer to the Twin Cities are promoting broadband access for the whole state.