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Health & Fitness

The Need is Urgent for Wireless Broadband

Wireless broadband is an important asset when it comes to growing business and creating new jobs – both of which we sorely need in these hard economic times.

If you were facing a medical emergency, you would want first responders to have all the information they need right at their fingertips. For more and more Americans, this is precisely the case thanks to high-speed mobile broadband. Unfortunately, many parts of our state and country still lack reliable access to this life saving technology.

That’s the message I took to Capitol Hill along with two fellow upstate New Yorkers during the Broadband WORKS for Rural America advocacy day earlier this month. We joined with over 140 farmers, teachers, ranchers and other rural Americans in an effort to let Congress know that much of rural America lacks adequate broadband service and to urge our elected representatives to make universal access a national priority.

In the Peekskill area, I cannot count on wireless Internet access from a cell phone or computer, even though I pay for the service. People in New York City are frustrated when the wireless broadband system is overloaded, but it is even worse to be where there simply is no signal at all.

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My experience as a former volunteer fireman, as well as that of my fellow New Yorker Richard Towner, a firefighter and EMT with the Cohocton, NY, Fire Department, has shown us that saving lives greatly depends on the speed and accuracy of information gathering. For example, when facing a fire in a commercial building, being able to immediately access a digital archive of the building’s blueprint gives us the information needed to save lives and quickly extinguish the blaze.

But wireless broadband isn’t just for emergencies. In rural areas, it is a powerful tool to help businesses access new markets, grow their operations and create jobs. In the Finger Lakes region of New York State tourism is major source of jobs and income for many residents. People from around the country travel here to visit rural areas such as Penn Yen, where Richard and his wife Jane own the historic Davis House. And while here they expect to have access to the same amenities they have at home, including wireless broadband.  Without it, potential Davis House visitors are likely to take their business elsewhere.  

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Wireless broadband is an important asset when it comes to growing business and creating new jobs – both of which we sorely need in these hard economic times. Local businesses suffer without reliable access to the technology because they miss opportunities to market their services or wares to potential customers around the world.

For individuals, not having broadband access means missing out on all the benefits of being wired. For example, I manage my healthcare insurance and prescription refills almost exclusively over the Internet. Spotty wireless broadband can present a real health risk when I need to reorder my prescriptions or make a health insurance payment.  Internet access allows us to access so much more, including information that could save lives.

These are the messages that Richard, Jane and I took to the offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as Representatives Ed Towns, Eliot Engel and Tom Reed. Both senators have spoken recently about the importance of broadband to the nearly 10 million New Yorkers who do not have access today, and I am hopeful that Congress heard us and will take action to achieve universal broadband access.

 

Michael Kane is a leader of Communications Workers of American Local 1150 and lives in Peekskill, N.Y.

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