Humboldt County and the Redwood Coast region have a history of determined innovation and social enterprise. From pack trains, steam ships and industrial age railroads to the subsequent expansion of electric service, telephone networks, water, and modern transportation systems - investments in common carrier services and public infrastructure have been instrumental in supporting social and economic progress for the North Coast.
Today, we find ourselves at a critical juncture. Economic and social progress in the 21st century increasingly depend on affordable and ubiquitous broadband access. However, we have no public policy, no vision nor plan in place to ensure the universal deployment and adoption of next generation communication networks. Our failure to plan and take action threatens to relegate our region and our nation to second class status in the broadband age.
Around the world, people are accessing faster and faster broadband connections to create innovative solutions that address individual, community and business needs. "Always on" digital networks and the Internet have changed everything in communications. Next generation digital media and broadband innovations are giving rise to many new services and applications. The potential uses of broadband networks and the Internet are virtually unlimited and every person has the potential to connect and build their own place in the global marketplace of ideas.
The future of broadband is about more than surfing the Web, watching video, playing interactive video games and making phone calls. It is about entirely new forms of communication and sharing, including diverse community conversations and large scale social collaboration. The increasing potential for sharing and organizing information, for using storage capacity for all forms of digital media, for processing power and open source solutions are fully realized only through universal access to broadband connections.
Community based broadband deployment will help to generate new ideas, accelerate economic development and lead to new opportunities for wealth creation, social development and personal expression. Many regions around the world have already developed strategies to ensure that necessary public investments are made for next generation broadband infrastructure. These communities are poised to benefit across public, private and non-profit sectors from the revolutionary advances that the Internet enables.
Meanwhile, in the US many federal and state rules are being rewritten to diminish authority of local jurisdictions and effectively reduce community and public participation in exchange for promises of increased private investments and closed network upgrades. Following this course, and lacking vision, planning and leadership initiatives from federal and state policy makers, cities and counties throughout the US are rapidly losing their competitive advantage to more focused communities elsewhere around the world with greater public sector participation.
Failure to advance public interests through community broadband deployment is likely to harm the competitive status of local regions with respect to education, healthcare, economic development, standard of living, and the level and quality of civic discourse.
To address the need for universal broadband access, local governments, school and service districts and their communities play an essential role. This is particularly true in remote, rural and “micropolitan” regions, such as Humboldt and the Redwood Coast.
Want to meet other broadband advocates? Join and become active in the Redwood Technology Consortium.
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[With thanks and acknowledgement to the works of colleagues with the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (natoa.org)]
Sean McLaughlin, executive director of Access Humboldt, is a past Board member of NATOA, and a leading proponent of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." (UN, 1948)Copyright 2008, the Eureka Times Standard Newspaper. The print version of this article first appeared in the 7/10/08 edition of the Times Standard.