It might seem difficult to believe, but, even in 2012, there are many parts of the United States that still lack the technological foundations needed for broadband Internet access. According to BusinessWeek, the federal government has offered stimulus money to telco and cable companies interested in expanding their broadband Internet access to rural communities—but many companies have refused to take the subsidies offered, saying that even with these free dollars from the government it is still not a profitable proposition for them to serve these remote communities.
As reported in Yahoo Finance, xG has released a statement on the controversy. "Rural broadband (and the lack of access to it) has been an issue facing the country for many years," said Rick Rotondo, xG Technology Vice President of Marketing. "While the debate has many times been positioned as one of private industry vs. government build-out, there is a more fundamental aspect to this than which entity is the right one to take on the risk and potential rewards. At the heart of the debate is a financial question: whether economics, even with substantial government monies, justify the capital outlay required to deploy and operate highly rural broadband networks. It is this issue, along with the needs of those missing out on the digital revolution, that should be the topic at the center of the discussion."
The xG Technology statement continues with a comment on broadband economics. "Using traditional network approaches, the economics are difficult to justify for private industries, which even with government subsidies, must deliver an acceptable ROI," notes Rotondo. "Similarly, government agencies are facing tight budgets and cannot pursue projects that are not cost effective and provide the most return for their constituents. However, new approaches that leverage game-changing technical advances that have the potential to change the economics and redefine the debate in a way that both industry and government benefit from delivering broadband services to neglected rural markets."
The statement concluded with the following: "xG Technology's xMax wireless broadband solution delivers this new game-changing technology in a cost-effective and simple-to-deploy solution," he comments. "Using freely available, abundant and zero-cost unlicensed frequencies, broadband services can be delivered without the cost of trenching, stringing cable over vast distances, or purchasing expensive licensed frequencies. xMax wireless equipment provides a practical solution for serving a small and geographically diverse customer base, while delivering state of the art voice, video, and data service with a high quality of service (QoS) that these customers deserve."
Daniel Carpini
Marketing Director
xG Technology, Inc.
Tags: cognitive radio, rural broadband, spectrum, wireless spectrum