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"Cable companies weren't interested when the federal government dangled millions of dollars to expand broadband Internet service and boost economic opportunities in Lake County, Minnesota, on Lake Superior (Wikipedia map). But "They didn't want anyone else to build a system, either," report Jim Spencer and Larry Oakes of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "That would mean competition in small parts of the county they already serve, even if it would leave thousands of northeastern Minnesota residents and businesses without broadband. So in 2010, when Lake County applied for federal stimulus funds to build a countywide network, it ran straight into a challenge from industry giant Mediacom and the Minnesota Cable Communications Association. The conflict that ensued is part of a national struggle," one that is repeated over and over in communities across the country, perhaps one you know or cover. "

The aim of the report is to promote the sharing of best practices adopted by PPP broadband projects, whether they have been used to provide broadband access nationally, regionally, or in rural areas. The purpose of the document is not to focus on the approach followed by any single PPP broadband project, or to promote any one project, but to provide an overall view of the best practices implemented among all the projects. These best practices have been identified as beneficial for future PPP broadband projects, and which, if followed, should deliver successful outcomes.

"B.I. has come to agribusiness, with farmers and cattle ranchers using many of the same tools found in numerous corporate cubicles. Thanks to everything from sophisticated tractor instruments to automated milking machines, farmers can collect all sorts of operational data in order to improve efficiency and keep production levels high. Here are just a few examples of how B.I. is being used in more rural areas."

"BT is investing £2.5bn to roll-out superfast broadband to two-thirds of UK consumer and business premises by the end of 2014. Regeneris Consulting was commissioned to assess the potential economic benefits of BT's investment in superfast broadband for businesses and focussed on four case study areas: A rural area in the UK: Norfolk and Suffolk A UK town: Caerphilly A UK city: Sunderland The capital city: London The report and its observations builds on Regeneris' experience in the production of number of studies assessing the economic impact of broadband investments throughout the UK. Their work has informed business planning and bid development, including a number of the current crop of BDUK projects and projects to help secure investment from European funding sources. The 'Key Facts regarding BT's investment in Broadband' and the 'Summary of key observations' from the report are below. "

Le déploiement de l'Internet très haut débit en zones rurales prend de l'élan. Vendredi 9 novembre, le gouvernement a annoncé (.pdf) la création d'une mission pour le déploiement de la fibre optique, pilotée par la ministre de l'économie numérique, Fleur Pellerin. La mission sera dirigée par Antoine Darodes, directeur de la régulation des marchés du haut et très haut débit et des relations avec les collectivités territoriales chez le régulateur des télécoms, l'Arcep. Les "parties prenantes", à savoir les collectivités, opérateurs ou équipementiers, seront consultées début décembre.

Last year the U.S. broadband stimulus program finished awarding public, private and  nonprofit organizations over $7 billion to build new broadband infrastructure, create  public computing centers and implement broadband adoption programs. Concurrently,  hundreds of millions have come from private and other public sources for broadband.  Improving economic development is a driving force behind these investments.  What have we achieved for our investments, particularly in underserved urban and rural  communities? It is a little early in the process, though, and only a small portion of the  stimulus checks have been issued. Perhaps the more important question is, what  economic outcomes can we hope to achieve in the next two or three years? This  survey's results provide a number of clues. 

CORPORATE RESISTANCE to publicly-owned internet networks dates back to the fabled days of dial-up. In 1995, companies lobbied successfully for Texas to enact a law barring municipal entities from providing certain telecommunications services. In response, a number of national organizations lobbied Congress to include a provision in the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996 that would pre-empt states from enacting laws that would bar "any entity" from providing telecommunications services. But in 2004 the Supreme Court ruled in Nixon v. Missouri Municipal League that that pre-emption was too broad (more on the decision here). If Congress wanted to restrict states from exercising traditional state powers-including instructing municipalities on what services they could provide-it had to say so explicitly, the Court decided.  Since then, nearly half the states have enacted barriers to public communications initiatives. The first such laws were "flat-out, in-your-face" bans-outlawing municipal networks outright. But more recently, telecoms began pressing for state-level laws to establish a "level playing field"-a wireless market that doesn't pit private companies against public providers. These laws typically impose onerous regulations on public networks that invite costly litigation and frequently lead to delays and cost overruns.

Pour obtenir des soins spécialisés, les habitants des régions éloignées et rurales sont souvent obligés de parcourir de grandes distances, ce qui entraîne d'importantes dépenses, des inconvénients et, dans certains cas, l'aggravation des affections sous-jacentes. Le programme d'investissement Télésanté d'Inforoute Santé du Canada (Inforoute) appuie les projets des administrations publiques qui donneront aux patients des collectivités éloignées accès à des services de soins de santé pertinents et en temps opportun. Ces améliorations seront le fruit de solutions électroniques qui facilitent la transmission de données sur la santé et la prestation de services entre les patients et leurs prestateurs de soins autorisés, peu importe l'endroit où ils se trouvent.

The Republican platform on telecommunications and its criticism of the Obama Administration's handling of broadband inspired a blogger at the Washington Post to ponder the question, "Whatever happened to Obama's goal of universal broadband access?

"Bientôt dépassé, le WiFi? Les États-Unis commencent à tester une nouvelle technologie sans fil, un «super WiFi» plus puissant et de plus longue portée, qui pourrait notamment apporter l'internet à haut débit dans les zones rurales."

Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte says his national broadband plan is "the rural electrification of the 21st century". The Minister outlined a series of "ambitious" targets to be met within the lifetime of the Government. He said 70-100Mbps should be available to at least 50 per cent of the population. At least 40Mbps should be available to at least a further 20 per cent of the population and a minimum of 30Mbps available to all. Mr Rabbitte said Taoiseach Enda Kenny had given him a commitment the State would provide funding of €200 million along with matching investment from private companies.

"Every year, Internet access via broadband becomes available to millions more Americans, up from 92 percent last year to 94 percent, a recent report shows. Rural and tribal areas are the outliers."

Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte, has recently decided that that's not nearly enough. On Thursday, he outlined a new broadband plan for Ireland that puts the United States to shame. He says that half the population, largely in the urban and suburban cores, should have speeds of 70Mbps to 100Mbps, with service of at least 40Mbps to the next 20 percent of the country. Finally, he writes, there should be a "minimum of 30Mbps for every remaining home and business in the country-no matter how rural or remote."

"Bientôt dépassé, le WiFi? Les États-Unis commencent à tester une nouvelle technologie sans fil, un «super WiFi» plus puissant et de plus longue portée, qui pourrait notamment apporter l'internet à haut débit dans les zones rurales."

Un village intelligent, pionnier et autonome offre un modèle universel de lutte contre la pauvreté en milieu rural. Ce développement dynamique de la Malaisie est conseillé par des experts californiens de l'innovation.

À travers des regroupements régionaux de bidouilleurs et d'amateurs de nouvelles technologies, le Québec tombe lentement sous le charme de «l'économie 3.0», un modèle économique plaçant l'internet à haut débit, les données ouvertes et les technologies libres au coeur du développement régional et rural.