Last mile problem

One obstacle to a free and fair internet has to do with challenges in wiring certain physical regions. Internet providers don't wire rural homes and businesses because it isn't cost effective to extend fiber-optic cable the "last mile" to areas with fewer potential customers.

To frame this issue historically, the US electric industry faced a last mile problem in the early 1900s. Electricity has since become an essential part of daily life. Now, electric wires provided by the government extend all over the country. Electricity isn't free, but it is accessible nation-wide.

Access to high-speed internet is a necessity and a right. The disadvantages of living or working within the "last mile" are obvious. Still, why not highlight a few: - obtaining broadband Internet in the absence of fiber-optic connectivity is expensive and often inferior - small businesses cannot operate using dial-up Internet and are crippled by high Internet costs - lack of broadband Internet negatively impacts the value of homes

WiredWest

A group called WiredWest is working to provide high-speed Internet to dozens of towns in Western Massachusetts that have no or partial connectivity due to the last mile problem. Their main goal is to "build and operate a community-owned, open-access fiber-optic network to every home and business in participating towns that want it."

http://wired-west.net/

(of ourselves, there are many similar groups around the world, WiredWest is just an example of the activism surrounding unequal Internet access!)