Geography matters

It’s been about a month since iAdvance, a consortium of telecommunications and high-tech companies, public interest groups and members of Congress, released a report assessing the present and future of high-speed broadband Internet access in the United States. Maine was named as one of the “Disconnected Dozen” states in danger of falling behind on the information superhighway.

The reaction by state officials was swift: Maine, it was pointed out, has an excellent telecommunications system overall; it has a high rate of access to high-capacity broadband services; it leads the nation in connecting its schools and libraries to the ‘Net.

Overall, that is true. But the big picture doesn’t tell the entire story. Through this debate, even the most energetic defenders of Maine’s high standing in high-tech have conceded that there is a growing disparity between the state’s urban and rural regions. While the cities enjoy broadband and the opportunities it brings in commerce and research, the sticks get busy signals and overwhelmed modems.

Currently, the most common form of high-speed Internet is via cable. It’s a wondrous technology, lightning fast and able to convey enormous amounts of data. It’s also unavailable to the roughly 30 percent of Mainers who don’t have access to cable and, given the economics of the business, probably never will.

A promising alternative is DSL — digital subscriber line — and its various permutations, such as xDSL. This offers high-speed Internet through conventional telephone lines, the good old copper wire that already reaches virtually every home and business everywhere.

There is a hitch — the data-carrying ability of DSL degrades significantly every 18,000 feet. This means that telephone companies wishing to provide this service to customers will have to install repeaters to boost the signal every three miles or so. And whenever opportunity is the product of distance times expense, rural folks know what to expect. Whether it’s transportation, health care, economic development, education or, now, high-speed Internet, geography matters.

Neither the Federal Communication Commission nor state utility regulators have the authority to compel telephone companies to make DSL available to all customers. And, of course, cable is essentially unregulated. That’s fine; incentives are better.

As summer draws to a close, lawmakers throughout the state soon will be preparing their agendas for the coming session. Soon, the hopper will be stuffed with legislative proposals. Among them should be an initiative to get every town in Maine up to superhighway speed. Start by meeting with cable and telephone officials, determine exactly what it will take to bring these cutting edge technologies not to every country lane but at least to every village center. Then develop a package of assistance that will make it happen and put some money behind it.

If it’s corporate welfare, at least it’s a form that directly benefits Maine people. And if the Internet is to keep its promise of putting every small, remote town right on Main Street, the state of Maine may have to help with the paving.