Stimulus Package Offers $7.8 B for Broadband for Rural Communities

Health care, education, business opportunities and more ... come to people who have access to High Speed Internet. Fortunately, among the benefits of the new Economic Stimulus Bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama is additional funding for rural broadband.

According to the 2008 Pew Internet and American Life Project Report, 38% of rural Americans now have broadband in their homes. That's 38% compared to 55% of all Americans, or if you compare the 38% to urban Americans, that "on the Internet" gap becomes even wider.

The gap in high speed Internet also affects

To get the picture about how Broadband's move in to rural communities is helping rural America, see the Chicago Tribune's story, "$7.2 Billion Plan to Wire Rural America Holds Promise, Pitfalls".

Author Rebecca Cole writes about how broadband is changing people's lives:

• A simple cholesterol check cost a Kentucky miner a day's work because the doctor's office was so far away.
• A Tennessee clothing store sells online.
• A California cheese maker offers artisanal cheese online.

And people who want to go to college, no longer have to drive to a far-away town where the school is located.
Read more here.