Universal Broadband Coverage Empowers Low-Income and Poor Families

Without access to the Internet many individuals fall behind, even for simple tasks like completing job applications. Fortune 500 companies like Wal-Mart and Target require online applications. The main reasons people have limited access to fast-speed Internet, according to a New York Times article on broadband expansion, are: "The cost of Internet services and the cost of computers; not knowing how to use a computer; and not understanding why the Internet is relevant."

A recent editorial in the St. Joseph News-Press advocated for expansion of public-private partnerships in Missouri with an emphasis on use of federal economic stimulus funds.
The benefits of high-speed internet, from health care to education to business, long have been known. Rural residents quickly grasped the importance of the information pipeline. It gives families and young professionals the option to live in a small town and still connect to jobs in larger cities or even around the world.



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