USDA backs rural broadband loan

While this blog is not a fan of big government or government intervention in private business, a recent example of government doing exactly what its supposed to be doing, came forth.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is guaranteeing a $267 million rural development loan to build wireless broadband facilities across rural America. This will extend the power of the internet to tens of thousands of ranchers and farmers across rural America, who have been limited to the slow, easily interrupted dial-up internet access.

I believe this is potentially the biggest, most impactful change in rural America since the TVA in depression days. That initiative extended electric power to farms, ranches and small towns that never had it before. That brought a revolution to life in rural America and transformed the way everything was done. It greatly increased agricultural production and eased life on the farm.

High speed internet service will do no less for rural America. Whether we like it or not, the internet has changed the face of the world and isn't going away. Since Al Gore invented it (ha!), the internet has completely changed the speed at which business is transacted, the speed at which news travels around the world, and the way we communicate with each other. It is a personal value judgement whether this is good or bad, but it is reality and rural America cannot afford to be left out.

This is what government is all about. Rather than intruding into things we can do for ourselves, government needs to act when there is no other way to do it. Farms and ranches are too remote, spread out and isolated for business to profitably wire up internet service to each one. With a federal guarantee, private business can being satellite broadband to the country.

This is a tremendous step to empower rural America, and we will all stand back and be amazed in a few years at what it brings.