Broadband Communities

NOV-DEC 2014

BROADBAND COMMUNITIES is the leading source of information on digital and broadband technologies for buildings and communities. Our editorial aims to accelerate the deployment of Fiber-To-The-Home and Fiber-To-The-Premises.

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14 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 EDITOR'S NOTE Broadband Communities (ISSN 0745-8711) (USPS 679-050) (Publication Mail Agreement #1271091) is published 7 times a year at a rate of $24 per year by Broadband Properties LLC, 1909 Avenue G, Rosenberg, TX 77471. Periodical postage paid at Rosenberg, TX, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Broadband Communities, PO Box 303, Congers, NY 10920-9852. CANADA POST: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Copyright © 2014 Broadband Properties LLC. All rights reserved. CEO & ED I TO R IAL D I R EC TO R Scott DeGarmo / scott@bbcmag.com PU B LISH ER Nancy McCain / nancym@bbcmag.com E D I T O R Masha Zager / masha@bbcmag.com E D I T O R -AT- L A R G E Steven S. Ross / steve@bbcmag.com ADV ER T ISI N G SALE S A CCO U N T E X E C U T I V E Irene Prescott / irene@bbcmag.com O N L I N E N E W S E D I T O R Marianne Cotter / marianne@bbcmag.com D E SI G N & PR O D U C T I O N Karry Thomas CO N T R I B U T O R S Joe Bousquin David Daugherty, Korcett Holdings Inc. Joan Engebretson Richard Holtz, InfiniSys W. James MacNaughton, Esq. Henry Pye, RealPage Bryan Rader, Bandwidth Consulting LLC Robert L. Vogelsang, Broadband Communities Magazine B R OA D BA N D P R O P E R T I E S L LC CEO Scott DeGarmo V I CE PR E SI D EN T, B USI N E SS & O PER AT I O N S Nancy McCain CHAI R M AN O F T H E B OAR D Robert L. Vogelsang V I CE CHAI R M EN The Hon. Hilda Gay Legg Kyle Hollifield B USI N E SS & ED I TO R IAL O FFI CE B R OAD BAN D PR O PER T I E S LLC 19 0 9 Ave nu e G • R o s e n b e r g , Tx 77471 281. 3 42 .9 655 • Fa x 281. 3 42 .1158 w w w. b r o a d b a n d co m m u n i t i e s . co m masha@bbcmag.com F or the 11th consecutive year, this magazine devotes its end- of-year issue to broadband's efect on economic health. You'd think there would be no one left to convince, but that doesn't seem to be the case. For example, the author of a recent article in the Tennessee Watchdog was shocked – shocked! – to discover that people use broadband for entertainment. Tis undermines the claim that broadband is needed for economic development, he said. Te point is not that broadband users watch football games and cat videos or read celebrity gossip. Drivers on public roads may be headed toward karaoke bars, but people still need roads to keep the economy moving. Electricity powers video game consoles, but it also powers factories. Rather, the point is that, without broadband, people have a hard time making a living, getting an education, updating their skills or staying healthy. And the bar is rising – in the article Bad Broadband Equals Low Population Growth (p. 92), Steve Ross notes that it now takes 25 Mbps broadband to keep economies ticking; counties without widespread access to 25 Mbps broadband are experiencing low population growth or even population loss. Te population exodus might be even greater were it not for the fact that older residents have their life savings tied up in houses that have become essentially unsalable. Te article Te Killer App for Local Fiber Networks (p. 96) summarizes a vast body of statistical and anecdotal evidence showing that broadband is good for local economies, and more broadband is even better. Most of the research and case studies cited have appeared in the pages of this magazine over the last decade – but their cumulative efect is powerful. It's hard to imagine that seeing them all in one place wouldn't convince even the most hardened skeptic. SPREAD THE WORD Skeptics must be convinced, or the United States will continue to lag behind other developed nations in building, adopting and efectively using advanced broadband. City leaders need to understand that they are missing opportunities to improve their citizens' lives and life chances. Tey can start by reading Stephen Goldsmith and Susan Crawford's book "Te Responsive City" and the Intelligent Community Forum book "Brain Gain," both of which are excerpted in this issue. I urge readers to distribute the articles in this issue as widely as possible. Tey are all freely available online at www.bbcmag.com in several formats. Send them to the people in your community who need convincing. And talk to us about getting copies of the new edition of the FTTH primer, which is included within the pages of this magazine but will also be printed separately. Te primer, written in nontechnical language, has helped build community support for many broadband projects. v Converting the Skeptics Go, tell it on the mountain: Broadband fuels economic growth.

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