Editorial calls for national broadband policy to be a top priority in '09

America needs a rural broadband policy as soon as possible according to a Lynchburg News & Advance editorial.

Lynchburg, Virginia is in the heart of a rural portion of the 2008 battleground state, with voters that will be targeted by both Barack Obama and John McCain.

The editorial equates the need for wiring all of America at broadband speeds to another important national infrastructure policy in the 1930s:

Wiring all of America for access to the Internet at true broadband speeds, we would argue, is as important now as bringing electricity to rural America was for President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s.

The editorial staff believes that just as affordable electricity in rural areas helped better the nation’s economy, so too will a national broadband policy. The benefits that it will bring include: “renewed economic vigor, enhanced educational opportunities through distance learning programs, social networking, commerce … it’s endless.”

The editorial cites the Speedmatters.org state-by-state Internet connection speed report as their primary evidence of the need for a national policy. This is yet another example of how the report and the thousands of people who took the speed test are keeping the issue of affordable high speed Internet access for all Americans in the national spotlight.

The editorial concludes in convincing fashion:

It’s as much a matter of national security as energy policy or winning the war on terrorism.

America Needs a Rural Broadband Policy Soon (Lynchburg News & Advance)

State-by-State Internet Connection Speed Report (Speedmatters)

Speed Test (Speedmatters)