Expanded broadband access in rural Michigan sought

By the Midland Daily News

Posted August 13, 2011

Business and community groups from across the Great Lakes Bay Region have come together to ask the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take action to expand access to hi-speed mobile broadband service across northern lower Michigan.

The FCC is currently considering a proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile that, if approved, would provide access to high-speed mobile broadband service to a majority of Michigan businesses, farmers and families.

Local groups calling for approval of the merger include the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance, Great Lakes Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the Midland Area Chamber of Commerce, Saginaw Future, Inc. and Greater Gratiot Development.

"Broadband connects families and job makers across mid-Michigan to the rest of the world and the global economy," said Terry Moore, president and CEO of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance. "Hi-speed Internet can connect our region to the rest of the world, but only if residents have access. Unfortunately, far too many job makers and families in the rural tri-county area do not have that critical access yet."

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Survey: Texas companies with broadband Internet outperform those without it

By Laylan Copelin/Austin American Statesman

Many Austin conventioneers get their first taste of Texas barbecue just outside the Austin Convention Center's doors at Iron Works BBQ, but it's the restaurant's online business that keeps them coming back...

A survey of 800 Texas businesses by Connected Texas indicates that the median revenue of companies with broadband connections is 45 percent greater than companies without the faster Internet connections...

Read more Survey: Texas companies with broadband Internet outperform those without it

Broadband Expansion Going Nowhere Fast

South Carolina Still Lags Behind in High-Speed Digital Access

BY COREY HUTCHINS | freetimes

In October 2009, the state Budget and Control Board quietly approved a $143 million contract that effectively leased out 95 percent of the state’s broadcast bandwidth — owned by the public for decades — to two private telecommunications companies for the next 30 years.

Those companies — Washington-based Clearwire and Virginia-based DigitalBridge — were expected to build out connectivity to rural and underserved areas of the state.

Nearly two years later, the strategy for expanding broadband access in the Palmetto State appears static.

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