High speed data services known as broadband have the potential to make rural areas less isolated and improve the rural quality of life, but physical barriers, sparse population density, and few markets present significant obstacles to their deployment in rural areas. Broadband applications such as e-commerce, distance education, and telemedicine…

The revolution in telecommunications technology will be a driving force in the future economic growth of rural areas. Federal and state universal service policies requiring delivery of service to rural areas were major factors in how the telephone system evolved during the 20th century. In the 1990s, telephone penetration rates were similar for…

This first article in a series on telecommunications in rural America provides an overview of several key telecommunication issues facing rural regions. High speed data services known as broadband have the potential to make rural areas less isolated and improve the rural quality of life, but physical barriers, sparse population density, and few…

This paper examines the extent to which rural America is digital--has access to the Internet and to newer technologies such as wireless broadband--and discusses rural supply and demand for "going digital." Supply aspects include issues of both infrastructure and public policy. Demand aspects include entrepreneurs (business users) and…