Tech director: Broadband Internet next major 'public utility'

By: | GoDanRiver
Published: May 03, 2009

Many residents who live in the most isolated areas of the county accepted long ago that broadband Internet service was a luxury they couldn’t have.

But the head of the Rockingham County Business & Technology Center says a high-speed connection is far from luxurious — it’s the “next big public utility” — and he doesn’t want anyone denied.

The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to oppose a state bill proposal that would prohibit local governments from providing communications services to areas that private companies don’t serve.

Mark Wells, executive director of the center, said the Level Playing Field Act (Senate Bill 1004, House Bill 1252) would hinder the county’s ability to compete and would prevent rural residents from ever having broadband, unless a private company decides that doing so would be profitable. Wells says high-speed Internet is nearly a necessity, especially for school-age children whose educations depend upon technology.

Rockingham County Attor-ney Eugene Russell said the county’s resolution to oppose the bill would be sent to the state’s legislators. He said the county has no immediate plans to enter the broadband business, but if the bill passes, “it would tie our hands.”

“It’s taking local governments out of the playing field,” Russell said.

Russell said he would like Rockingham County to one day be comparable to the North Carolina cities of Asheville and Wilson, which he said both provide broadband within their city limits.

Wells said the bill is now in the House and has been reaffirmed to the Committee of Public Utilities.