Vexed in Vermont over slow progress on broadband access

Considering that broadband has been likened to an information interstate highway, Vermont is settling for just a two lane blacktop, laments Lawrence Keyes in a op-ed in the Rutland, Vermont Herald.

Keyes, who chairs Vermont's Software Developer's Alliance outreach committee, says Vermont's E-State initiative "is largely an exercise to convince ourselves that 'something is being done, and 'we've got it covered' as broadband black holes remain numerous.

What worries me is that with E-State we're going to get people barely off dialup. By going with wireless Internet connections, we believe that we have a state-of-the-art high-tech infrastructure superior to other states. That is how it is being sold. But, we're really just paving the dirt roads.

Keyes suggests investment in broadband infrastructure should be given the highest priority by all candidates for governor.