Do you live in a Broadband Deadzone. Your government wants to fix that.

[TalkingDog]

http://www.broadband.gov/

Fill out this survey.

This time WPA won't be building bridges. It will be building the information interstate.

[kristopher]

1. Thanks. K&R

[cmd]

2. SE Ohio needs to hear about this

I'll be sending it along to my contacts. Thank you!

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Forwarding this to my sister-in-law

She lives deep in Dogpatch USA - so deep that she lives too far from a telephone exchange that supports DSL. She can't even get cell phone reception, so a data plan won't work. Cable? FUHGEDDABOUDIT! Dial-up is their only recourse, which is useless for the most part.

The comparison to the WPA is apt. Before this great endeavor, most rural homes didn't even have electricity or phone service. It's fitting that the next great undertaking would bring information to everyone. If it were up to conservatives and corporate America, millions of Americans would still be lighting their homes with kerosene lanterns; they have a vested interest in keeping the populace ignorant, so expect a fight against this egalitarian endeavor.

[vadawg]

4. i too live in an area that dosent have cable, i wonder how much it will cost to bring it

my wife would love to get fios again...

[Cirque du So-What]

8. I don't know how much it would cost

but I suspect it would be outrageously expensive. Over 25 years ago I built a house in a rural area. The electric utility company would run power lines to my house, free of charge, from the closest available point, but I wanted them to run lines along a route that didn't involve cutting mature trees. The alternate route was just over 1,000 ft, which they would run after I ponied-up around $2,500. As I'm basically a cheap bastid, I chose the shortest route.

[vadawg]

10. rofl im with you on that, i even offered to pay for comcast to run cable and they politely declined

for my wife its the disadvantage of living rural for me its an advantage... :)

[havocmom]

5. Have had broadband for years. Now, wireless coverage...

fuggitaboutit. We need carrier pigeons around here. Miles and miles of little traveled roads with lots of dead zones. If your car breaks down, you could be in for a very long, cold walk.

[Warpy]

6. I live in the southern Rockies

and every time you go around a curve in the road, you hit a dead zone, everything fading in and out.

I do live in the city, though, so I grabbed DSL as soon as the cables were laid in the area. I didn't have cable TV, so it was my first opportunity for broadband.

Overall, I'm happy with it, although it sucks bigtime when the DSL modem burns out.

[ddeclue]

7. No I have Verizon EVDO.. we don't have "dead zones" at least not in the Eastern U.S.

:P

I also have ATT DSL at the house but I mostly use my Verizon when I'm out.

I could get DirecWay service through my DirecTV but it is more expensive and speed isn't any better than EVDO and the latency is much worse.

[vadawg]

9. i have verizon and even though the map says differently there are still dead zones

even in the solid red areas, especially in the mountains, i dont blame verizon sometimes geography just kicks your ass, frinstance i get a signal at my house, but not in my drainfield and not at the top of my drive, and the 3g thing comes and goes as well

[ddeclue]

11. I haven't experienced an Eastern U.S. problem in a long time.