August 2008
From: Center for Rural Studies on behalf of Will Sawyer
Sent: Mon, 8/18/2008
Subject: CRS Survey Report Released Today
The Center for Rural Studies and the Vermont Council for Rural Development held a joint press conference today to announce the results of the Council on the Future of Vermont telephone survey. CRS staff members Jessica Hyman, Michael Moser and Co-Director Fred Schmidt presented and answered questions at the press conference.
CRS implemented the survey as part of the council's statewide public dialogue on the values, challenges, opportunities, priorities and visions for the future of the state.
Results are at http://crs.uvm.edu/survey/futureofvermont
For more information about the Council on the Future of Vermont, including notes from all of the public listening sessions and ways to contribute to the discussion, go to www.futureofvermont.org
Burlington
Vermont Vermont
When the rest of the country and much of the world is buzzing about the new features of the second-generation iPhone released last month, Vermonters still wonder when, or even if, the phone might be offered here.
The unavailability of one of the hottest telecommunication gadgets of the year should serve as a reminder of how farVermont
A company like Burlington-based Dealer.com, which develops online solutions for auto dealers and has quickly grown to more than 100 employees, can exist here only with reliable broadband access. And business people rely on their cell phones for everything from voice and data to e-mail Web access.
The state moved in the right direction when the Legislature and theDouglas administration worked together to create the Vermont Telecommunications Authority in 2007 to extend broadband Internet and cell-phone coverage throughout the state by 2010.
The economic challenges of distance from markets, a small population and higher-than-average costs have been with us for decades. Now we face the threat of being left behind in a world connected 24/7 unless we can offer employers the kind of connectivity the business world has come to expect.
That connectivity must extend beyond population centers likeBurlington Vermont
The way to make the infrastructure happen is to first encourage competition to drive service expansion, and when competition falls short, have government step in to help as in the case of the Vermont Telecom Authority.
In the same way that the lack of a railway line, highway exit or airline service marked an area as a backwater in times past, the lack of connectivity today can relegate a region to second-class economic status. That's a riskVermont
Sent: Mon, 8/18/2008
Subject: CRS Survey Report Released Today
The Center for Rural Studies and the Vermont Council for Rural Development held a joint press conference today to announce the results of the Council on the Future of Vermont telephone survey. CRS staff members Jessica Hyman, Michael Moser and Co-Director Fred Schmidt presented and answered questions at the press conference.
CRS implemented the survey as part of the council's statewide public dialogue on the values, challenges, opportunities, priorities and visions for the future of the state.
Results are at http://crs.uvm.edu/survey/futureofvermont
For more information about the Council on the Future of Vermont, including notes from all of the public listening sessions and ways to contribute to the discussion, go to www.futureofvermont.org
From: CFED staff
Broadband, cell service key to economic future
When the rest of the country and much of the world is buzzing about the new features of the second-generation iPhone released last month, Vermonters still wonder when, or even if, the phone might be offered here.
The unavailability of one of the hottest telecommunication gadgets of the year should serve as a reminder of how far
A company like Burlington-based Dealer.com, which develops online solutions for auto dealers and has quickly grown to more than 100 employees, can exist here only with reliable broadband access. And business people rely on their cell phones for everything from voice and data to e-mail Web access.
The state moved in the right direction when the Legislature and the
The economic challenges of distance from markets, a small population and higher-than-average costs have been with us for decades. Now we face the threat of being left behind in a world connected 24/7 unless we can offer employers the kind of connectivity the business world has come to expect.
That connectivity must extend beyond population centers like
The way to make the infrastructure happen is to first encourage competition to drive service expansion, and when competition falls short, have government step in to help as in the case of the Vermont Telecom Authority.
In the same way that the lack of a railway line, highway exit or airline service marked an area as a backwater in times past, the lack of connectivity today can relegate a region to second-class economic status. That's a risk