Five Days on the Digital Dirt Road
March 3rd, 2009 by Megan TadyThis week, InternetforEveryone.org released Five Days on the Digital Dirt Road, a unique, multimedia report on the digital divide in rural America.
Earlier this month, I traveled across rural North Carolina to meet people trying to raise families, go to school, start and expand businesses, and participate in the global economy using antiquated dial-up service and unreliable satellite Internet connections. Their stories are a testament to why high-speed Internet is vital for America’s future, and why our leaders in Washington should be approaching broadband expansion with the same urgency and commitment given to past projects like highway construction, rural electrification and clean drinking water.
| Why connecting matters |
Five Days on the Digital Dirt Road will be showcased at the InternetforEveryone.org town hall meeting on the future of the Internet in Durham, N.C., on March 7.
Currently, 14.3 million rural homes across the country — 61 percent — are not connected to high-speed Internet. In North Carolina alone, nearly 5 million residents don’t have access to high-speed Internet. In many cases, telephone and cable companies have refused to provide service to people living in the remote and rural areas of the state, while some people are simply priced out of buying expensive broadband service.
It’s becoming increasingly clear, however, that Internet connectivity is key to a sound economy and could help revitalize local communities hit hard by the economic downturn. North Carolina is the second-largest textile employer and the third-largest apparel employer in the United States, and the state has suffered numerous plant closures over the last decade. The state has continued to hemorrhage jobs in the face of our current economic downturn, losing 34,900 jobs in December 2008 alone. Over the past year, 120,200 jobs have vanished, and the state’s unemployment rate is high at 8.7 percent.
Replacing these lost jobs with opportunities offered by the Internet – home-based businesses, telecommuting, online education and bringing current businesses into the digital age – could help save America’s economy, and stabilize the lives of people floundering in places like North Carolina.
Spend five days traveling the “digital dirt road” in North Carolina with Americans stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide. Start by reading “Day One.”
