With President Obama set to sign the $787 billion stimulus bill this week, one provision could have a significant impact on rural Great Plains states. The bill allocates $7.2 billion to expand access to broadband technology across the country. At least $2.5 billion of this money will go to rural communities.
For years the debate has [...]

read more from this topic.....

In the final weeks of 1981, lawyers for the federal government and for AT&T, the largest corporation in the world, negotiated the break up of the historic Bell System. One major premise guided the lawyers for the government. The telecommunications industry was ready for competition, especially in the markets for equipment, long distance, and information [...]

read more from this topic.....

WATERTOWN, SD – Farmers and ranchers sit on the boards of most of South Dakota’s remaining telephone cooperatives. For more than a century, they have been surprisingly innovative when it comes to providing telephone service to their members. I had a chance to present an overview of The New Pioneers to the members of the [...]

read more from this topic.....