An analysis of the failure of U.S. broadband policy to solve the rural–urban digital divide, with a proposal for a new national rural broadband plan. As much of daily life migrates online, broadband—high-speed internet connectivity—has become a necessity. The widespread lack of broadband in rural America has created a stark urban–rural digital divide. In Farm Fresh Broadband, Christopher Ali analyzes the promise and the failure of national rural broadband policy in the United States and proposes a new national broadband plan. He examines how broadband policies are enacted and implemented, explores business models for broadband providers, surveys the technologies of rural broadband, and offers case studies of broadband use in the rural Midwest. Ali argues that rural broadband policy is both broken and incomplete: broken because it lacks coordinated federal leadership and incomplete because it fails to recognize the important roles of communities, cooperatives, and local providers in broadband access. For example, existing policies favor large telecommunication companies, crowding out smaller, nimbler providers. Lack of competition drives prices up—rural broadband can cost 37 percent more than urban broadband. The federal government subsidizes rural broadband by approximately $6 billion. Where does the money go? Ali proposes democratizing policy architecture for rural broadband, modeling it after the wiring of rural America for electricity and telephony. Subsidies should be equalized, not just going to big companies. The result would be a multistakeholder system, guided by thoughtful public policy and funded by public and private support.

If you loved Hidden Figures or The Rise of the Rocket Girls, you'll love Claire Evans' breakthrough book on the women who brought you the internet--written out of history, until now. "This is a radically important, timely work," says Miranda July, filmmaker and author of The First Bad Man. The history of technology you probably know is one of men and machines, garages and riches, alpha nerds and brogrammers--but from Ada Lovelace, who wrote the first computer program in the Victorian Age, to the cyberpunk Web designers of the 1990s, female visionaries have always been at the vanguard of technology and innovation. In fact, women turn up at the very beginning of every important wave in technology. They may have been hidden in plain sight, their inventions and contributions touching our lives in ways we don't even realize, but they have always been part of the story. VICE reporter and YACHT lead singer Claire L. Evans finally gives these unsung female heroes their due with her insightful social history of the Broad Band, the women who made the internet what it is today. Seek inspiration from Grace Hopper, the tenacious mathematician who democratized computing by leading the charge for machine-independent programming languages after World War II. Meet Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler, the one-woman Google who kept the earliest version of the Internet online, and Stacy Horn, who ran one of the first-ever social networks on a shoestring out of her New York City apartment in the 1980s. Join the ranks of the pioneers who defied social convention to become database poets, information-wranglers, hypertext dreamers, and glass ceiling-shattering dot com-era entrepreneurs. This inspiring call to action shines a light on the bright minds whom history forgot, and shows us how they will continue to shape our world in ways we can no longer ignore. Welcome to the Broad Band. You're next.

After broadband access, what next? What role do metrics play in understanding “information societies”? And, more important, in shaping their policies? Beyond counting people with broadband access, how can economic and social metrics inform broadband policies, help evaluate their outcomes, and create useful models for achieving national goals? This timely volume not only examines the traditional questions about broadband, like availability and access, but also explores and evaluates new metrics more applicable to the evolving technologies of information access. Beyond Broadband Access brings together a stellar array of media policy scholars from a wide range of disciplines—economics, law, policy studies, computer science, information science, and communications studies. Importantly, it provides a well-rounded, international perspective on theoretical approaches to databased communications policymaking in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Showcasing a diversity of approaches, this invaluable collection helps to meet myriad challenges to improving the foundations for communications policy development.

There is widespread concern in the telecommunications industry that public policy may be impeding the continued development of the Internet into a high-speed communications network. In the absence of ubiquitous, high-speed ¡°broadband¡± Internet connections for residential and small-business customers, the demand for IT equipment and new Internet service applications may stagnate. Broadband policy is controversial in large part because of the differences in the regulatory regimes faced by different types of carriers. Cable television companies face neither retail price regulation of their cable modem services nor any requirements to make their facilities available to competitors. Local telephone companies, on the other hand, face both retail price regulation for their DSL service and a requirement imposed by the 1996 Telecommunications Act that they ¡°unbundle¡± their network facilities and lease them to rivals. Finally, new entrants are largely unregulated, but many rely on facilities leased from the incumbent telephone companies at regulated rates to connect to their customers. This asymmetric regulation is the focus of this volume, in which telecommunications scholars address the public policy issues that have arisen over the deployment of new high-speed telecommunications services. Robert W. Crandall is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution. His previous books include (with Martin Cave) Telecommunications Liberalization on Two Sides of the Atlantic (2001) and (with Leonard Waverman) Who Pays for Universal Service? (Brookings 2000). James H. Alleman is an associate professor in interdisciplinary telecommunications at the College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado, on leave at Columbia University.

The internet has become so widespread that such issues as access, regulation and related policies have become major factors in the economy and social fabric of societies in every part of the world. Peoples without running water are demanding access to the internet and those without it are becoming deprived citizens. This new book examines current issues of interest to the blossoming area.

High-speed Internet access: the definitive "how-to" guide! Covers cable, DSL, and next-generation wireless high-speed Internet connections, this handbook also Includes Windows, MacOS and Linux coverage.

An introduction to theories and applications in wireless broadband networks As wireless broadband networks evolve into future generation wireless networks, it's important for students, researchers, and professionals to have a solid understanding of their underlying theories and practical applications. Divided into two parts, the book presents: Enabling Technologies for Wireless Broadband Networks—orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing and other block-based transmissions; multi-input/multi-output antenna systems; ultra-wideband; medium access control; mobility resource management; routing protocols for multi-hop wireless broadband networks; radio resource management for wireless broadband networks; and quality of service for multimedia services Systems for Wireless Broadband Networks—long-term evolution cellular networks; wireless broadband networking with WiMax; wireless local area networks; wireless personal area networks; and convergence of networks Each chapter begins with an introduction and ends with a summary, appendix, and a list of resources for readers who would like to explore the subjects in greater depth. The book is an ideal resource for researchers in electrical engineering and computer science and an excellent textbook for electrical engineering and computer science courses at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels.

Broadband communication expands our opportunities for entertainment, e-commerce and work at home, health care, education, and even e-government. It can make the Internet more useful to more people. But it all hinges on higher capacity in the "first mile" or "last mile" that connects the user to the larger communications network. That connection is often adequate for large organizations such as universities or corporations, but enhanced connections to homes are needed to reap the full social and economic promise. Broadband: Bringing Home the Bits provides a contemporary snapshot of technologies, strategies, and policies for improving our communications and information infrastructure. It explores the potential benefits of broadband, existing and projected demand, progress and failures in deployment, competition in the broadband industry, and costs and who pays them. Explanations of broadband's alphabet soup â€" HFC, DSL, FTTH, and all the rest â€" are included as well. The report's finding and recommendations address regulation, the roles of communities, needed research, and other aspects, including implications for the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

bull; Learn about the historical development of broadband and understand its future course. bull; See how this technology will alter how we live, think, and do business. bull; Hear how recognized leaders in business, academia, and government see broadband literally reshaping their institutions, through thought-provoking interviews and commentary. bull; Written for a broad audience, including non-technical personnel.

"This authoritative resource offers a complete understanding of state-of-the-art and cutting-edge techniques for designing and fabricating broadband microwave amplifiers. The book covers the complete design cycle, detailing each stage in a practical, hands-on manner." "This comprehensive reference illustrates the formulation of small- and large-signal device models to help professionals accurately simulate amplifier performance, and covers all the practical aspects and circuit components used in fabrication. Engineers find design examples of various types of amplifiers that are applicable in broadband systems such as optical communications, satellite communications, spread-spectrum communications, wireless local area networks, electronic warfare, instrumentation, and phased array radar. The book also provides an in-depth treatment of ultra-broadband microwave amplifiers." --Book Jacket.