Federal stimulus dollars aim to improve Internet access in rural America

By Tim Barker, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, March 29, 2009

Even now, federal officials are scrambling to figure out how to give away those billions of dollars. This is not about getting farmers in Southern Illinois access to YouTube videos and eBay auctions. It's about fostering economic development, education and health care in areas of the country threatened by their inability to keep up in an information age.

Businesses have come to view high-speed Internet as a basic piece of infrastructure, not unlike access to highways, airports and railways. They use it daily to transfer and store data, participate in videoconferences, collect orders from customers and communicate with the world.

A START ON SPENDING

It may sound like a lot of money to spend on Internet access, but it's not nearly enough to finish the job. Experts say it could take another $30 billion or so to reach the 10 million U.S. households stuck in slow motion.

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