That's already happened for Bobby Tuck, who heads Tuck Mapping Solutions in Big Stone Gap, a small Appalachian town in Virginia's Eastern tip. Tuck, whose company specialises in aerial mapping, used to swap floppy-disk files with his clients when he started his business years ago. But as technology progressed, the files got larger. He soon found himself loading hard disks into his car and driving to clients' offices -- sometimes meeting them halfway, if he was lucky.
The files eventually got so big -- some reach 150GB -- that Tuck was on the verge of relocating, despite having been in the area for 20 years. Then last year, a regional planning commission won funding to bring a fiber connection to the area, and Tuck's business turned around.
With access to a 100-megabit-per-second connection, the company could suddenly download critical data files in two or three minutes, where it had taken 8 hours before. The business is now staying put, and others in the area have found new opportunities.
"What it's done for us is make us a major player in our field," Tuck said. "We could work almost anywhere, once we have access to data. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference where we're located."
From the ER to the ABCs
Broadband's benefits are being felt in countless other fields, especially those that rely on real-time access to detailed and complex information. In some cases, it can deeply affect the way children learn or even mean the difference between life and death.
To emphasise the technology's urgency, proponents cite a broadband project being built on the frontlines of homeland security for firefighters, police officers, ambulance crews and other emergency workers in the US capital. The wireless network will enable doctors in Washington-area hospitals to conduct preliminary examinations of patients in ambulances via live video streams. Police officers engaged in high-speed chases will get real-time footage from helicopters, while bomb squads will be able to inspect dangerous sites remotely.
"These are applications that already exist and could greatly enhance the capability of our first responders," said Robert LeGrande, deputy technology officer for Washington, D.C., who is lobbying Congress to set aside more wireless spectrum for public safety.
The multimillion-dollar system, still under construction, is being held up as the future of public safety by lobbyists seeking funds and more wireless spectrum for similar projects. While that process continues, communities as far-flung as Garland, Texas, and Milpitas, California, have already created Wi-Fi broadband services on a smaller scale for their own public safety forces.
Talkback
Perhaps possible in the USA, but unfortunately of little relevance to the UK.
In fact as more users sign-up for broadband in the UK & the contention ratio effect becomes more noticeable, plus the inability of many websites to cope, broadband can of course slow to below dial-up speeds.
A recent report actually cast doubts on the value of the Internet in education, etc.
Perhaps we should be discouraging the use of the Internet, not encouraging the use of it in conjunction with more life critical processes.
Imagine what would happen if the connection 'drops' at a critical point?
100% valid comment,broadband is not sweeping the streets of s.e. u.s.a.,human beings must limit their reliance on technology,life is hardwork,not as easy as the push of a button,technology will never care about us,living like the "jetsons"to me is a scary thought,no flowers,no lawn to mow,a technological "catastrophe"would result in more deaths than any war to date.would every one be scrambling to find an operational computer to survive instead of water,food,shelter.Seems no entity can do without "technology".the fireman,cops,doctor I will be without,if i'm not online?slow down.