Industry Leaders Come Together For Rural Broadband

Without access to high speed, reliable internet, communities all across America are unable to keep up in today’s fast paced world. Students are unable to get access to the resources they need; businesses are denied access to important markets. This is most prevalent in rural communities, and thankfully a concerted effort is being made to bring proper internet access to everyone in the country.

A group of community leaders, rural advocates, and top innovators have launched the Connect Americans Now group in order to work towards the goal of providing broadband connectivity in every market in the country. As Farm Futures notes:

“CAN’s founding partners include Microsoft, ACT: The App Association, the National Rural Education Association, the Schools, Health and Library Broadband Coalition, the Wisconsin Economic Development Association, Alaska Communications, Axiom, the Mid-Atlantic Broadcasting Communities Corporation, the American Pain Relief Institute, HTS Ag, and others.”

As Richard T. Cullen, Executive Director of Connect Americans Now, stated:

“All Americans – regardless of where they live – deserve access to high-speed internet. Without a broadband connection, millions of students struggle to keep up with their assignments, Americans in rural areas are unable to fully utilize telemedicine, farmers are denied the promise of precision agriculture and businesses are unable to tap into the world of online commerce. Congress and the FCC must stand with rural America by allowing internet service providers to deliver broadband via white spaces spectrum.”

The GAIN coalition is glad to see this organized and committed movement towards providing internet access to every single American. It’s vital that the proper infrastructure extends into each community so that absolutely no one is left behind without access to fast and reliable internet.