Group items tagged

FRS launched the Rural Telecom Educational Series as part of an ongoing effort to promote rural telecom and educate those who will determine its future. The series has played a vital role in educating both national and local policy-makers on the issues facing community-based telecom providers. FRS publishes papers on an ongoing basis that highlight critical issues to rural telecommunications, such as universal service, net neutrality and wireless technology. One copy of each paper is complimentary; additional copies are available for purchase. Please visit the FRS E-Store to place your order.

RuralNet un dispositif innovant au service de la population rurale. RuralNet, un dispositif sociotechnique au service des acteurs du territoire, permet à chacun de s'engager dans une démarche dynamique d'échanges et de partage de savoirs.   A qui s'adresse RuralNet? A  tous les habitants et acteurs du monde rural: -jeunes, élèves, apprenants -séniors, -retraités, -actifs, -public demandeur d'emploi ou souhaitant changer de trajectoire professionnelle, -parents, -élus, décideurs, communautés de communes , pays, -centres de formation, -professionnels, -associations ...   RuralNet : un dispositif de partage et d'entraide. Parce que les habitants des communes rurales sont parfois isolés dans leurs démarches de recherches ou limités dans leur mode de déplacement,RuralNet propose de faciliter l'accès aux savoirs à distance : * En rapprochant des personnes de tous horizons, partageant les mêmes préoccupations, pour former une communauté en ligne de partage et d'entraide. En discutant entre eux sur les forums, les membres de RuralNet peuvent se conseiller, s'encourager, proposer des savoir faire - Si vous souhaitez échanger ou partager votre savoir faire, communiquer avec d'autres ruralnautes , n'hésitez pas inscrivez vous sur le site.  

Broadband is vital to the economic and social sustainability of rural communities. Ensuring the availability of fast and reliable access in all rural communities is a key priority for Defra and we are working closely with DCMS, which has overall responsibility for broadband policy and delivery. Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) is responsible for managing the broadband rollout programme, and government funding of £530m for rural broadband to 2015.

Broadband internet access in general, and mobile broadband in particular, are becoming increasingly important to national economies and the personal lives of users.  In the US alone there  were about 84.4 million mobile broadband connections at the beginning of 2011, virtually the same as the number of fixed broadband connection (FCC 2011, Table 1).   Nevertheless, as with nearly all new technology, broadband availability and  adoption are  not diffusing as quickly in rural areas or  among certain minority groups.  This article presents an up to date view of the rural and minority digital divide based on latest statistics, showing that significant divides in both availability and usage persist.  The  potential for mobile broadband to be an engine of growth for rural economic development is then examined.  Mobile broadband  also  holds significant potential for urban areas as well, given  the  importance of broadband, particularly mobile broadband, for urban minority communities.

Providers are extending healthcare to rural patients with financial assistance from the rural healthcare pilot program, a six-year-old initiative that provides funds for telehealth projects. So far, the program has committed an estimated $369 million of the total $415 million set aside, according to an evaluation published Aug. 13 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Country Cablevision, a small cable operator providing service in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains in rural northwestern North Carolina, will deploy fiber to the home service to Mitchell and Yancey counties, home to more than 33,000 people, thanks to $25.3 million (75% grant/25% loan) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service.

La Chambre de commerce et d'industrie du Coeur-du-Québec (CCICQ) a manifesté, hier, son inquiétude face à la décision du CRTC quant à l'accès aux services téléphoniques et à Internet dans les zones rurales, spécialement dans la région. Selon la CCICQ, cette décision aura des conséquences néfastes pour la région.

"One of the problems bedevilling carriers is how to deliver faster broadband speeds to rural customers as they boast about the speeds their urban clients can get. SaskTel said Monday it will test a new approach starting in December in three Saskatchewan communities: Fixed data and voice wireless service using the LTE standard. The carrier announced from Bejing that it has signed an agreement with Huawei Technologies for a nine-month trial to see if the technology is economically feasible."

"Broadband networks are spurring improved quality and helping lower the cost of care in rural areas by reducing time to access of critical treatment and increasing the resources available to diagnose conditions."

The Federal Communications Commission has voted unanimously to reform the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation system. It is creating a new Connect America Fund, with a budget of US$4.5 billion to meet the end-goal of this policy shift: extending broadband infrastructure to rural Americans, as opposed to subsidizing rural phone service.

"The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is working to connect rural households to broadband through the Connect America Fund. The Fund provides capital to private sector companies in order to help shoulder the cost of building out broadband networks to those homes. However, two of the largest service providers have opted out of the the free money saying that they would prefer to focus their attention elsewhere. One provider, Frontier Communications is stepping up to the plate citing significant business value in bringing these households online, a view which raises more questions about whether AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast are creating artificial network scarcity in order to provide a better picture for shareholders at the expense of American competitiveness."

Another rural wireless broadband operator is calling it quits after finding demand insufficient to pay the bills. Rocky Mountain Broadband is shutting the doors on its WiMAX operation in the tony resort town of Aspen, Colo., at the end of this month, said a company executive.

Google may be rolling out 1Gbps Internet access to Kansas City, but there are about 19 million American households and businesses that still lack any access to broadband, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Most of them are in rural areas, and some will soon benefit from broadband projects financed by one of the last pillars of the FCC's National Broadband Plan: the Connect America Fund. "I'm pleased to announce today that nearly 400,000 residents and businesses in rural communities who currently lack access to high-speed Internet will gain access within the next three years," declared FCC Chair Julius Genachowski on Thursday.