Rural Illinois Could Benefit from an Open Internet

(Undated) -- "A big win for rural communities." That's how the National Rural Assembly views President Obama's endorsement of treating broadband service like telephone service. Edyael Casaperalta coordinates a national coalition of groups advocating for those who live in rural areas. She says Obama's call for the F-C-C to reclassify broadband as a Title Two service under the Telecommunications Act not only protects an open Internet, but it also begins a conversation about how do we bring high-speed, affordable, quality Internet to rural areas because that is what we have done before with telephone. While supporters of the idea claim it would close the digital divide in broadband-starved areas of Illinois, House Speaker John Boehner has called it a "misguided scheme to regulate the Internet."