Access to broadband is crucial to economic success

Broadband isn’t just for communications or for entertainment. As many people are already well aware, it’s also an important and crucial tool that helps drive businesses. It’s also something that creates jobs as well, as we’ve seen lately, with the FCC cooking up a plan to lay down broadband connections in the countryside. The process of doing so will create close to 500,000 jobs in the process.

Perhaps to further emphasise the importance of broadband, Economic Development Director Tommy Jenkins and other officials from North Carolina believe that pushing for the expansion of broadband services in the region will be able to prepare Tar Heels for the competitive 21st century economy. Scott Hamilton, President and CEO of AdvantageWest Economic Development Group, and Macon County EDC Director Tommy Jenkins rounded up some key players in the industry at Southwestern Community College’s Macon campus, where discussions were held with regards to expanding and providing Internet access to the state’s rural areas.

The meeting was attended by Ken Maxwell, General Manager of Frontier Communications, along with Dr. Cecil Groves, former president of SCC and current CEO of BalsamWest FiberNET, and Joe Freddoso, CEO of Making Connections in North Carolina (MCNC).

Each representative shared the position of their respective organisations and what steps must be taken in order to expand broadband access.

Freddoso explained: “High-speed Internet is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Having high-speed connectivity is often required to pursue, apply for, and obtain jobs.”

Groves talked about how policymakers were inadequate in making their demands for high speed fibre Internet connections in WNC, since such representatives had ignored this need for a number of years already. He said: “We can compete with Atlanta. We can compete with Asheville, and we can compete with Hickory with the kind of technology businesses we have here. We tend at times to have the desire to compete with smaller towns, but we have the capacity we need to compete with anybody.”

Groves added that broadband firms must work together in order to push for broadband access to rural areas: “We have everything going for us. We can do it all if we want to do it. The pieces are in place. This is not a fight but an effort to get service to rural areas,” stated Groves about partnering with public and private entities.”

Source – Macon County News