Soapbox time! Caught this article this morning.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/startup/week5-your-office.htm

People working remotely for their businesses. This particular American works remote … from Kenya. No insult to Kenya, I think that is fantastic! Now …. Hello NH! You know half the state (geographically speaking) has no broadband! I moved here from TX back in ‘97. I had to pay fierce fees for an ISDN BRI service, which for you younger folks may not know, was the cat’s meow back then. Since that time, my town and its surrounding area is the technological equivalent of a time machine in reverse. I can’t even get ISDN anymore. Perhaps we need some engineers in the government to shake the “granite” out of the nest? What is wrong? Not having such utility is a nail in the coffin for competitiveness. Not to mention “Distant Learning”, which only works if one has broadband. Doing homework at night … rural (and not-so-rural) kids are at a digital disadvantage. USA is number 15 or 16 in the world for broadband service (and this is averaged). In broadband availability and speed, we fall behind some countries that quite frankly have little or no sewage infrastructures! How can that be? If the current free market policies existed during the roll outs of electrical, and telephone services …. guess what … we would probably have no electricity and phones. The governments (federal, state) should have mandates that any ISP provider needs to provide equal and sufficient broadband access to all residents.