Electronic Byways: State Policies for Rural Development Through Telecommunications Book

	List of Figures, Maps, and Tables
	Acknowledgments
	Foreword
	Executive Summary	1
	Goals and Recommendations	15
	Introduction	21
1	Rural America in the Global Economy	25
1	The U.S. Rural Economy in the 1990s	25
2	The Process of Rural Development	31
3	The Role of Telecommunications	35
4	The Changing Telecommunications Environment	36
2	State Telecommunications Players and Policies	49
1	Two Cultures	49
2	The Players: State Government Involvement in Telecommunications	51
3	The Role of the State Legislature	52
4	The Role of the Executive Branch	54
5	The Role of the State Regulatory Commissions	61
6	Regulatory Policies	67
7	A Growing Role for the Telephone Companies	77
8	Conclusions	79
3	Rural Development Players: State and Local Initiatives	81
1	The Culture of Rural Development	81
2	State and Local Agencies with Links to Rural Development and Telecommunications	82
3	Telecommunications and Rural Employment	85
4	Applications for Health Care and Emergency Services	92
5	Distance Education and Rural Development	94
6	Bridging the Gap	110
4	Local Perspectives on Telecommunications and Development: Four Community Studies	113
1	Background	113
2	Questions Raised by Earlier Research	114
3	The Four Communities	117
4	Strategies for Development at the Local Level	123
5	The Demand Profile for Rural Telecommunications Services	128
6	Cultivating the Development Point of View: Policy Implications	132
5	Rural Telecommunications and Economic Development in Washington State: A Case Study	139
1	Background	140
2	The AT&T Divestiture Prompts New Concern	142
3	Developing a Vision of Rural Telecommunications	145
4	Refining the Research, Spreading the Word	146
5	Sustained Momentum for Change	151
6	Lessons Learned	157
6	Telecommunications and Rural Development: Quantitative Analyses	161
1	Why Quantitative Analysis?	161
2	Gaps in Earlier Research	162
3	National Time Series Data	164
4	The Data from the Pacific Northwest	166
5	The Telecommunications Connection	181
7	Building Electronic Byways: Goals and Recommendations	183
1	The Vision	183
2	Recommendations for State Governors and Legislators	186
3	Goals and Recommendations for Development Agencies	193
4	Goals and Recommendations for State Regulatory Commissions	198
5	Recommendations for Telecommunications Providers	224
6	How Can These Recommendations Be Paid For?	229
	Appendix A: Trends in Upgrading the Rural Telecommunications Infrastructure	231
	Appendix B: U.S. Rural Telecommunications: Organizations and Agencies	239
	Appendix C: Oregon and Washington County Data	257
	Appendix D: State Telecommunications Infrastructure Measures	263
	Glossary	269
	References	281
	Index	291