When something's working, most Texans would say "don't mess with it."  New research about Texans' opinions about the Internet and the government are in line with this thinking.Read more

Broadband for America (BfA) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) have partnered to expand broadband Internet technology training to underserved Latino communities throughout the United States.Read more

All 50 states are taking part in broadband access and adoption projects as part of the national broadband stimulus. Here is a look at some of the public-private partnerships that have been announced:

Texas: Calix Inc. announced it will partner with XIT Rural Telephone Cooperative on a statewide broadband access project that will build up high-speed infrastructure to underserved parts of the state. The $6.3 million project is a mix of public and private funding and part of Calix’s larger $100 million broadband expansion effort across several states. “Folks in our rural corner of Texas look to XIT for their video and broadband connection to the world. The video experience of Calix across its E-Series platforms gives us the confidence that we can deliver superior IPTV services with minimal downtime for our subscribers,” said Darrell Dennis, general manager for XIT. Read more about the project here.

Wisconsin: The Marquette-Adams Telephone Cooperate is beginning a major $20 million broadband infrastructure project designed to expand high-speed Internet services to 4,600 homes in rural counties. The City of Reedsburg has received funding for a similar project. "None of the areas we will be going into have high-speed Internet" other than satellite service,” said Marquette-Adams manager Jerry Schneider. Once completed, the project will have built out 498 miles of new fiber lines. You can read more about the project and Wisconsin’s efforts to expand broadband here.

Several more states have launched broadband expansion projects designed to build-up high-speed Internet infrastructure and access. Here is a look at some of the new efforts getting underway:

Massachusetts: The town of Florida voted to partner with 47 other communities on a broadband infrastructure expansion project with WiredWest. Read more here.

Oklahoma: The state plans to improve its broadband services through a combination of public-private partnerships. The first stage is a statewide broadband mapping project, where citizens can test their broadband speeds and collect data on where services are available. The second phase is a major set of broadband infrastructure and access expansion projects. Read BroadbandBreakfast.com’s full coverage here.

Texas: The Coalition of Health Services, the Amarillo Area Foundation and AMA TechTel Communications have proposed a public-private broadband expansion project that would build 1,422 miles of fiber, connecting 27 public health institutions and 123 public institutions, including schools, local governments and economic development organizations. Read more here.

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Broadband for America is proud to announce our new featured member MedPATH. From the MedPATH release on our partnership:

Throughout recent months Broadband for America and MedPATH Networks have been collaborating together using MedPATH’s expertise in healthcare IT networking to further advancing the healthcare IT technology industry. MedPATH’s network provides the means for healthcare providers and device manufacturers to offer more efficient technology that leads to cost effective patient care. Broadband for America has provided MedPATH with a platform to promote their ConvergedCareTM family of healthcare services that has recently been referred to as, “the new face of healthcare IT.”

Healthcare data is only as meaningful and useful as one’s ability to access it. In a world of proprietary data languages and software applications, important data is fragmented and sequestered to immobilizing degrees. The management of patient information, facility interconnectivity and regulatory compliance, consequently, requires countless hours of provisioning, computing and attempted converging. Ultimately, healthcare providers are forced to set aside patient care and, instead, function as data managers.

MedPATH’s ConvergedCareTM platform enables interconnectivity between multiple medical software sources and provides secure connections to any local or global healthcare IT system. This Global Health Data Exchange (GHDX) platform means the turn key integration of all facets of healthcare information exchange, seamlessly interfacing Point‐of‐Care (POC), Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Telehealth, Telemedicine, medical device applications, and healthcare software packages.

MedPATH Networks transforms healthcare information access while delivering new broadband options underserved markets and allows Practitioners to focus on what they do best – providing quality patient care.

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The Internet has gone a long way toward leveling the playing field for small business owners – especially those in rural locations.   Not so long ago the market was the distance of someone’s home to their place of business. 

Now, distance from the physical location has become immaterial because broadband allows us to put an entire catalogue on a Website and make it available to buyers from Athens, Ohio to Athens, Greece.

We have all read articles with small “mom-and-pop” businesses suddenly catching fire demonstrating the Internet not only allows us access to the world as our market, but also allows us access to the world’s smartest people on whom we can call for help.

There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of Websites which have tips for entrepreneurs and small business people.  There are some, like Jim Blasingame’s “Small Business Advocate” (www.smallbusinessadvocate.com) which is a free site offering tons of advice from hundreds of experts on every aspect of running and growing your business.

Assuming you have the ability to make, stock, and/or ship everything you sell you will quickly find you need to hire more people.  Nearly every small community in America is suffering from unemployment rates which are significantly higher than the national average, so every job that you create makes a huge difference in your community. 

As the broadband side of your business grows, you will quickly find that you need people who can, not just pack and ship items, but also deal with customs forms on the U.S. side, duty on the receiving side, and all manner of items which don’t come into play when someone walks into your store and walks out with an item.Read more