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By Bob Weaver
During the 1990s I started attending meetings, seminars, and conferences regarding the importance of bringing high-speed broadband to rural America.
That vision included improving education and economic development.
Since then providers and politicos have conducted studies, surveys, formed commissions and made dozens of pronouncements and promises about broadband coming soon to rural neighborhoods.
Government has allowed providers to define their own broadband speed.
A lot of federal money seems to have been thrown at the development, much of it now in question.
While some progress has been made, real broadband to rural West Virginia is still much of a smoke and mirrors game, with fees being paid by most West Virginians (those who have access) for sub-standard broadband service.
Meanwhile, America has thrown trillions of dollars at ill-begotten wars and globalized millions of jobs to countries that have developed better broadband technology infrastructure than the USA.
In rural Calhoun, a few individuals are attempting to use Frontier broadband to run fledgling businesses, but find themselves driving to Parkersburg to upload or download files to operate.
Even the promised real high-speed access to schools, responders and government agencies remains in the lurch, but "coming soon."
SMOKE AND MIRRORS HISTORY
BACKWOODS INTERNET TECHNOLOGY STILL A DREAM - Information Super Highway A Sluggish Road
TECHNOLOGY "HIGHWAY" DETOURS RURAL COUNTIES - Economic Future At Stake
GLENVILLE COMMUNITY "CONNECTED T0 THE WORLD" - $250,000 GSC Grant Brings Broadband
WV BEHIND NATION WITH INTERNET ACCESS - Broadband Limited In Rural Counties
HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ACCESS DRAGGING TO RURAL COUNTIES
GLENVILLE STATE'S WIRELESS BROADBAND PROJECT SCUTTLED - Reinvented, Seeking Funds
WV NEAR LAST WITH BROADBAND ACCESS - Frontier Effort Helped Calhoun
UNIVERSAL BROADBAND MAY NOT COME BY 2010
INTERNET PROVIDERS SAY WV WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR RURAL ACCESS
WV DEAD LAST IN BROADBAND ACCESS
RURAL WV AREAS LEFT BEHIND WITH BROADBAND AND CELL PHONE SERVICE - Calhoun Fares Better Than Most, Gilmer, Roane, Wirt County In Dire Straights
'HIGH SPEED' COMING YOUR WAY - It's A "Crock"
BROADBAND DREAMS FOR RURAL AREAS - New Declarations Bring Hope?
$4 MILLION BROADBAND CEO SCAMMER SENTENCED - Laughery "Took" United Bank & Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council
FRONTIER MAKES SWEEPING BROADBAND PROMISES
COULD FCC'S OPENING OF W-FI SPECTRUM BRING REAL BROADBAND TO RURAL AREAS?
RURAL WV LEFT BEHIND WITH 21ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGY - Clear Plans, More Hoopla
BROADBAND SERVICES TOUTED FOR RURAL WEST VIRGINIA - Frontier Will Bring Broadband To 85%, State Ranks 47th In Nation
WV HAS AMONG SLOWEST INTERNET SPEEDS IN USA - Near Bottom In Broadband Access, Test Your Speed
FORTY-FIVE PERCENT OF WEST VIRGINIANS HAVE INTERNET SPEEDS BELOW FEDERAL STANDARD
WV DRAGGING FEET ON IMPROVING BROADBAND TO SCHOOLS/PUBLIC FACILITIES - Dismal Report?
FLASHBACK 2011: CALHOUN HAS WORST WV 'BROADBAND' SPEED - Frontier Hedges On Broadband Plans For Regional Counties
HERE WE GO AGAIN - Feds Say Broadband Coming To Rural West Virginia
WEST VIRGINIA STILL LAST IN USA WITHOUT BROADBAND
FRONTIER ANNOUNCES ULTRA IMPROVED BROADBAND SERVICE - Service Could Be Slow-Coming To Rural Areas
BROADBAND PROMISES FALL SHORT WITH STATE'S $126 MIL PROJECT
BROADBAND IN RURAL WV: BROKEN PROMISES, BROKEN DREAMS - Dobbins Explains Your Broadband Woes, Offers Helpful Suggestions
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