Jonathan S. Adelstein, Administrator of the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, was today’s keynote at the Broadband Breakfast on “Challenges to Rural Broadband Availability and Adoption.”  Adelstein first acknowledged the tremendous support he is experiencing given that broadband is a top agenda item at the White House and the FCC, but then went on to discuss some of the challenges with rural broadband that his agency is seeking to address.  Of course, the cost of deployment is higher, but he finds this challenge is exacerbated by lower revenue potential due to lower adoption rates in rural areas.  Some of the reasons that Adelstein cited for lower broadband adoption in rural communities include digital literacy challenges, lack of working computers in homes, and an aging population.  The rural broadband expert panelists after his keynote suggested solutions such as working with local governments, targeting support to unserved areas, and driving demand through digital literacy programs.

Adelstein is seeing broadband success with the funds invested from the Recovery Act.  He not only seeks to build further off that success with programs to help communities leverage their broadband progress, but also looks forward to the second round of investments which will be more than double the first round (a strategy so RUS could learn from the first round and improve).  As Adelstein noted, rural communities are actually some of those most in need of fast, reliable broadband for services like telemedicine and distance learning.

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