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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.

There is no doubt that any national infrastructure plan of the magnitude of national broadband networks as they are currently rolled out in 9 countries and which policies have been put in place in another 110 countries will have questions attached to it. Furthermore, this infrastructure is being developed for the digital economy, which, in itself, is a fast-moving world. Five years ago there were no smartphones, tablets, mobile apps or smart TVs. And nowhere in the world were there any large-scale e-education, M2M or e-health projects underway. These changes all occurred during the last five years. Making any predictions 2 or 3 years ahead, let alone 5 or 10 years, will be very risky, inaccurate and will lead to endless debates about the multitudes of possible scenarios.

In working across the globe and working with multiple carriers deploying new, more robust broadband networks, Strategic Networks Group consistently comes up against the notion that once the network is built, adoption will naturally follow.  "Build it and they will come" is a school of thought that expresses the great hope that potential subscribers will naturally adopt, however this notion goes against what we have always known about technology adoption. Meanwhile, broadband is broadband for many consumers and businesses - who do not see the difference, nor what is possible with ultra-fast broadband (e.g. fiber / Fiber-to-the-Home). On the other hand, organizations like US Ignite are forming to promote "Next generation Applications," specifically new applications in education, healthcare, clean energy, public safety, and workforce development, including advanced manufacturing. These require the ultra-fast broadband connectivity which the networks being rolled out today will provide. And before we get to "Next generation applications," consider the bandwidth required to support online collaboration so critical to being competitive in a 21st century economy.

"En ce début d'année, période de changement pour l'éducation nationale, notamment par les annonces faites par le Ministre, Vincent Peillon, dans le l'avant-projet de loi sur la Refondation de l'école de la République, Ludovia Magazine a souhaité prendre la température du côté des industriels du secteur. Nous les avons interrogés pour connaître leur point de vue sur les perspectives qu'ils envisagent en 2013, en termes d'e-éducation."