JACKSON, Miss. – State leaders are working toward a day when everyone in Mississippi has access to high speed internet. The Mississippi Broadband Connect Coalition met at the Jackson Convection Center Tuesday to take a look at the benefits of expanding high-speed internet access. Some of those benefits include improving the state’s education and access health care.
Former Federal Communications Commission chair Kevin Martin spoke at the meetup, he said it is a major goal of the FCC to have everyone where in the country connected.
“Broadband is really an enabling technology that allows all other technologies to provide different services today, whether it is telemedicine or increasing our educational opportunities,” said Martin.
He says for the past few years the Federal Government has spent several billion dollars a year making sure people who live in rural areas have basic access to communication services.
“The network itself is more valuable when people around the whole county are connected, and also it is an important component on what is fair for the whole country in making sure that everyone is connected has been an important social compact of the US at the federal and the state level.”
