Broadband equals economic development

Here is a short note from an entrepreneur and venture capitalist in Florida who really gets the importance of broadband. He lists four critical reasons why broadband is important.

• Businesses can't survive without affordable, high capacity broadband.
• Broadband is now essential to K12 schools and higher education.
• Healthcare providers are now often the biggest users of broadband in a community, so lack of affordable, high performance broadband increases the cost of healthcare and limits delivery of healthcare services.
• Broadband is good for the environment. Energy conservation, preservation of the environment (e.g. storm and run off water monitoring, water quality, etc.), and energy management requires monitoring and connectivity.

Here is a question for community leaders and planners: Look at the four categories listed above and ask this question: "Do we want a large telephone or cable company making the decision about what kind of infrastructure is available in our community for business, health care, education, and the environment?"