Blunt highlights importance of deploying high-speed internet in rural areas

Describing how rural businesses, schools and medical providers struggle to keep pace without high-speed internet access, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) renewed his commitment on Wednesday to “end the digital divide.”

Blunt, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, wrote in an op-ed appearing in the Democrat News, a Missouri newspaper, that the federal government has diverted resources for broadband expansion from underserved areas in recent years. More than 60 percent of rural Missourians don’t have access to broadband.

“Students depend on the internet to enhance their education and prepare for the jobs of the future. As one parent recently told me, students in her community have a more difficult time doing their homework because they do not have internet access close to where they live,” Blunt writes. “By bringing broadband to rural areas, we’ll take an important step toward ensuring students in rural communities have access to the quality education they need.”

Likewise, businesses that don’t have high-speed internet access are at a disadvantage, Blunt continues, and high-speed internet is needed to attract new businesses like banks, factories, distribution centers and small businesses.

Agriculture, a critical sector to the Missouri economy, also is dependent on rural broadband.

“More and more farmers are utilizing wireless infrastructure, GPS, data centers, autonomous systems and fiber optics lines for precision agriculture and high-speed commodity trading,” he wrote. “With world food demand expected to double in the next 30 to 40 years, making sure Missouri farmers and ranchers have access to broadband will help them take advantage of the great economic opportunities that lay ahead.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken positive steps to expand broadband access since FCC Chairman Ajit Pai took over, Blunt adds.

“I’m pleased that Chairman Pai took action after I urged him to make available $2 billion in funds for rural broadband, and to open this money up to auction so new entrants in this field, like electrical cooperatives, could competitively bid,” Blunt states. “In addition, the FCC is working to expand mobile wireless service to rural areas and reduce costs for companies upgrading from copper to fiber optic networks.”