NEWS RELEASE[Vancouver, WA] - Today, U.S. Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) convened a U.S. House Science Committee field hearing at the Vancouver City Council Chambers to address the "digital divide" in Southwest Washington - the inequity in access to computers, technology, and high speed Internet access between large cities and small rural communities in his district. Today, Baird was joined by U.S. House Technology Subcommittee Chair Connie Morella (R-MD) and Ranking Member James Barcia (D-MI) to convene the hearing on "The Role of Technology to Address the Digital Divide."
"Just as roads, electricity, and phone lines were necessary infrastructure to build our economy over the past two centuries, high-speed Internet access is necessary to help build the ’new’ economy of today and tomorrow," said Baird. "Unfortunately, some sections of Southwest Washington, and rural areas throughout America, still do not have easy access to broadband, or high-speed Internet. That hurts our businesses, it hurts our economy, and we need to get ahead of this problem now."
Baird said that according to a joint study done by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while more than 56 percent of all cities with populations of at least 100,000 have a high speed/ large bandwidth Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) available, only 5 percent of cities with populations less than 10,000 have access to DSL service. DSL is a technology for bringing high-bandwidth information to homes and small businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines. Additionally, more than 65 percent of cities with populations of more than 250,000 have cable modem service, however, less than 5 percent of towns of 10,000 or less have this same service. Baird noted that the numbers paint a clear picture that our rural communities are lagging far behind urban areas.
"As more and more business is conducted over the Internet, it is essential that a person in Longview, Washington has the same ability to transact business as a person in Long Island, New York," said Baird. "It is simply unacceptable to allow our rural communities to miss out on the new digital economy because their infrastructure is not capable of accessing the power of the Internet. That is why this hearing today is so important. We need to look at ways that Congress and local governments can work with high tech companies to provide high speed Internet access to rural areas of the country. We have made important progress in this regard, but we must keep looking for new ways to do more."
At the hearing, testimony was presented by witnesses from high technology companies in rural areas of Southwest Washington who are impacted by the lack of high-speed Internet access, and by local policymakers who are working to provide solutions to close the digital and national gap. Baird said the majority of the testimony focused on the importance of high-speed Internet access in allowing rural communities to remain economically competitive with urban areas, to attract new businesses, and to maintain the existing business base.
Clint Page, President of Dotster.com, a rapidly growing Internet domain registrar in Longview, Washington, testified about the attraction of rural communities for Internet startups, but noted the problem of maintaining a growing business when the essential technology isn’t available. "For Dotster.com to remain viable given the current competitive market, a business like ours must face the real challenges of being located in a rural county," said Page. "While we find certain factors advantageous - the high quality of life, low housing costs - other factors are disturbingly difficult to overcome - primarily accessing a highly trained, technically proficient workforce and obtaining high-speed Internet access. As a result, we are presently considering relocating at least part of our business to a more urban area. This is very disappointing to our company and employees as our preference is to remain in a rural county. However, these are the types of decisions faced daily by technology businesses presently located in the rural counties of Washington State." Page said he has first-hand knowledge of the impact that the digital divide has on economic development in rural areas because he previously served as President of the Cowlitz Economic Development Council and Vice President of the Columbia River Economic Development Council where he was involved in the recruitment of businesses to Southwest Washington.
Chris Elverfeld, the President and CEO of CET Technology, Inc., an Internet service provider based in Kelso which is working to build an integrated wireless system throughout the Pacific Northwest, testified about the prohibitive costs and other challenges companies like his face in providing DSL to rural areas. "Rural communities have a long history of being underserved. If not, we wouldn’t be here today," said Elverfeld. "The availability of fiber will be limited for small communities just because of cost." Everfeld noted that making rural expansion of DSL less cost prohibitive to companies will have an important impact on job growth and business attraction in rural communities. "The migration of existing companies from rural communities to urban areas can be solved or even stopped by communities having access to bandwidth in amounts that will not only allow for the existing company to remain, but expand," said Elverfeld. "Most local businesses in rural communities don’t want to move. For them to compete, however, they must have the tools."
Other witnesses at today’s hearing included State Representative Brian Hatfield (D-19th District); Bo Wandell, President of SafeHarbor.com at Satsop; and Kelly Carnes, U. S. Deputy Secretary for Technology.