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IP: Overcoming Barriers to Rural Access: Policy Recommendations
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 18:18:10 -0500
Overcoming Barriers to Rural Access: Some Preliminary Policy Recommendations The role of this policy study, which has support from NSF's Networking Infrastructure for Education (NIE) program, is to identify barriers that rural schools and communities face as they try to connect to the National Information Infrastructure. The process of identifying these barriers included talking to policy experts in Washington, but -- more importantly -- meeting with "real" people in rural communities. We held focus groups in Vermont, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico. Reflecting on those meetings, here (below) are some preliminary recommendations. We hope that you can look at our suggestions, as well as the specific programs and models in several states (at our web site, http://www.itc.org/aaron/), and help us identify policies and significant models that we are leaving out. Many rural Americans have to pay toll calls (in addition to the same monthly fees their urban counterparts pay) to get to online information services and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In many states, dial-up access is not the problem that it once was. Creative policies, such as expanding dialing areas and aggregating demand -- as well as the increase in the number of ISPs -- mean that fewer people in rural areas have to make toll calls. But access to advanced telecommunications, if available at all, can be extremely costly in rural America. For example, the monthly costs of having a T-1 leased line to a rural school can be much higher than costs for the same service in urban areas. But the cost of access is not the only barrier to the NII in rural America. Affordable connectivity -- without support for training and professional development -- is useless. Policymakers must come up with solutions to both problems in schools and communities or people in rural America will continue to be the "have nots" of the information age. The following are preliminary suggestions that will help schools and communities in rural America have access to the National Information Infrastructure. Our web site presents creative solutions in several states. We urge concerned educators, parents, school board members -- as well as state technology directors, legislators, and other policymakers -- to look at the resources on the web site (http//www.itc.org/aaron/) and tell us where the gaps are. If we left out a policy or significant model from your state, please send e-mail to comments () itc org. Or please join our rural listserv (which is archived on the web site) and share ideas with others who are interested in rural access. To subscribe, send e-mail to listproc () itc org with no subject and subscribe rural YourRealName in the body of the e-mail. For example, subscribe rural Jay Rockefeller. After you subscribe, you can post (send your ideas) to rural () itc org. Our preliminary policy recommendations: 1. Encourage community networks. Community networks are one of the most constructive ways to bring access to rural areas. In addition to bringing the power of advanced telecommunications to underserved areas, community networks bind the people of a rural area together and allow them to communicate easily with one another. When a community network is based at a school or includes a school, it encourages the community to become more involved (the community, after all, supports the school). Policies should encourage the efficiencies and collaboration that rural community networks provide; policies should not discourage collaboration between the public and private sectors -- or schools and local businesses in rural communities. We are pleased to see that the Joint Federal-State Board on Universal Service recommended implementation of discounts for schools and libraries in such a way that the discounts allow for, even encourage, community networks. We're also pleased to see that the growth of community networks is being encouraged at the state level. The Missouri Express project sets aside $6 million to help get 80 community networks up and running throughout the state, bringing local, community Internet access to a number of rural communities. 2. Establish a policy that expands dialing areas. By expanding the "local" dialing area for rural communities, state public utility commissions dramatically increase the likelihood that an Internet service provider will be available to a rural resident. In addition, expanded dialing areas raise the likelihood of competition between ISPs in rural communities. This has already been done in a number of states, including Washington and Vermont. 3. Policymakers should provide for technical support, training, and professional development. Access to the NII in rural areas means nothing if training is not available. One superintendent, whose school runs a rural community network, said that the key to success is technical support, ongoing and onsite. In schools, members of boards and other policymakers should provide for ongoing training and professional development for all teachers. In rural communities, policymakers should implement training programs -- such as Nebraska's Global Community Initiative, which exposes rural communities to some of the benefits of the information superhighway. Training is also a key component of the Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN), which serves 14 counties in rural western North Carolina; MAIN trains rural citizens how to use the Internet and several specialized databases available through the MAIN network. MAIN also trains volunteers to provide technical support on the network and serve as local community experts on the Internet and computers. State programs should look at training their own employees, as well as teachers, librarians, and others who will serve as leaders on the information superhighway. 4. Encourage aggregation. By allowing rural entities to aggregate their demand, and order services jointly, policymakers can increase the likelihood of a service provider's willingness to provide them with advanced telecom services. One good example of this taking place is the Stanly County Network (a.k.a. StanNet) in rural North Carolina, where the local schools, library, hospital, and community college have banded together to bring high speed access to their rural community. 5. Provide access through public institutions. Public institutions can serve as the service provider of last resort for communities which otherwise would not be able to have access to advanced telecommunications services. For instance, in Alaska, the State Library Electronic Doorway (SLED) program provides Internet access to communities which otherwise would go unserved. 6. Set policies that encourage the anchor tenant model. State and local government institutions can serve as a kind of "anchor tenant" (the main customer) on a network, encouraging a service provider to at least make services available. In an expansion of this idea, one county government in North Carolina actually subsidized an ISP for one year in order to provide local access in the county seat. As a result, not only did the county government save money, but the entire county gained local Internet access, providing a foundation for new economic development. The Vermont Business Roundtable also endorses the anchor tenant concept. 7. Set policies that stimulate demand for services. State agencies can play an important role in educating rural communities about the benefits of advanced telecommunications applications. For example, the Global Community Initiative in Nebraska provides education, outreach, and planning support to local communities. This, in turn, stimulates demand for services in the local community, making it more attractive for commercial telecommunications providers. 8. Establish policies that encourage the development of meaningful content. Meaningful content -- including the nurturing of interactive discussions and online communities -- is important to rural America. State government, local government, local schools, libraries, and all other institutions should make efforts to put their resources online, so as to better serve their constituencies and to save their own scarce resources. Finally, you can't talk about policy changes that give rural Americans access to the NII without mentioning the universal service changes in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This major policy shift -- that will give discounts to schools and libraries, and have a huge impact in rural America -- will be implemented by the FCC in May 1997. We urge concerned educators and policymakers to see the web site at http://www.itc.org/edlinc/ and http://www.fcc.gov/ for an overview of this important public policy. States must prepare for implementation in the 1997-98 school year. Bill Wright, PI and Executive Director Aleck Johnson, Research Associate ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Wright Tel. (202) 466-0533 Executive Director Fax. (202) 466-0523 International Telecomputing Consortium (ITC) e-mail: wright () itc org 1250 24th St., NW, Suite 300 URL: http://www.itc.org Washington, DC 20037
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