This morning I poured a cup of coffee and popped over to Susan Och’s French Road Connections for breakfast for my brain. She offered up a blue plate special on one of my favorite aggravations: the lack of universal, affordable broadband in northern Michigan. She summarized a position paper by Dan Scripps, who’s running for State Representative over on the Leelanau and points adjacent, and provided a link. I thought you might like to read A Broadband Agenda for Michigan for yourself.
Susan says realtors tell her broadband availability has become an important consideration for buyers. I’ve heard the same thing from Maryanne Jorgensen, who started the business group here in Torch Lake Township. If you think this is only an issue for affluent summer visitors who want to watch videos of little Muffy and Buffy while they’re on vacation, think again. Broadband has become an indispensable part of agricultural management and marketing. It’s critical to effective emergency services. It can help level the playing field for our kids, giving them access to educational opportunities otherwise available only in the wealthier school districts. And, full disclosure: I am really, really tired of trekking to the library every time I want to download editing assignments or upload the finished product.
And as for Charter’s suggestion that the Township pay it $400,000 to build a network that Charter would own and operate for its own profit, nuts to that. Rural areas have been hamstrung long enough. It’s time for our state and our country to move back into the technological elite, rather than being consigned to second-rate status while one Asian economy after another sweeps past us in the development of modern communications systems.
Torch Lake Views 
Marilyn Cobb
September 14, 2008
I’m right up there on the soapbox with you, Gerry, but what can we do about it? I have upgraded to an Alltel wireless card which is better than dial-up, but it’s not fast enough to watch video so I’m not satisfied. I agree 100% that our township needs broadband.
Dad
September 14, 2008
Amen. Our Verizon FIOS is so fast that we have had to get used to tapping the keys quickly. The system responds so rapidly we shocked our grandson from Michigan the other day with how fast everything happens.
So how do local entities create non-profit solutions to the broadband need? I suspect Dan Scripps will have some ideas for creating a Rural Broadband Administration; if the REA did it for power and telephone so can today’s administration.
Your grandparents farm had a thirteen party phone line and no electricity until 1948. So get Mr. Scripps on the line and Go Girl.
Babs Young
September 15, 2008
You know I stand right up there with you. Let me know where to bring my sign and I will picket and help do what ever needs to be done.
Gerry Sell
September 15, 2008
Well. For openers I think we should all go to the Township Board meetings and let the Board know that this is an important infrastructure issue. George Parker, who is the only nominated candidate for Supervisor, will report on the community survey on communications at Tuesday’s meeting (September 16).
Just FYI – “Dad” writes from the Los Angeles metroplex. Not surprising that he has access to cutting-edge broadband. His grandson lives in the Detroit metroplex, which has very much faster service than anything we have here in TLT, and is still primitive by LA standards. I must tell you that it appears to me that most Asian countries have fairly universal service that matches or exceeds what Dad has. Michigan cannot afford to become a technological backwater.