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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

FCC Takes Note of Wyoming's Slow Internet Speeds

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010   

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Making Internet connections speedier in Wyoming is part of the goal behind the much-anticipated National Broadband Plan, officially released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday.

While many are still combing through the 360-page outline of steps to higher-quality Internet access for all Americans, Amalia Deloney, media action grassroots network coordinator for the Center for Media Justice, says the plan's release is a victory, in and of itself.

"Broadband is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. It affects everything from education, to employment, to health care, to government services and to democracy. It's crucial."

A report from the Communications Workers of America finds most people in Wyoming access the Internet at the slowest speeds in the country, with thousands still on dial-up plans. The FCC document calls for increasing the high-speed broadband adoption rate from 65 to 90 percent nationwide, connecting vital institutions like hospitals and schools; and connecting 100 million households to affordable broadband by 2020.

The affordability factor is important for lower-income families and people in rural areas, adds Deloney.

"The average person in the United States is paying around $40 dollars – $40-plus – for home Internet connection, and most of the people that we work with have reported they can't pay anything more than $20 to $25, and even that's a stretch."

She says adding broadband service to the Universal Service Fund, which already helps make telephone service available and affordable for everyone, would be one way to lower Internet connection costs.

See the National Broadband Plan at www.fcc.gov. The Internet speed report is also online, at www.speedmatters.org.



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