Broadband Opportunities for Sussex County

Infrastructure is a key ingredient in the recipe for regional economic prosperity—a constantrequirement as the U.S. economy evolves. Roads and rail connect cities, the electric gridconnects industry with energy, and telephone lines connect businesses with customers. Thecurrent economy places a premium on the high-speed transfer of data that broadbandinfrastructure makes possible. Broadband—defined by the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) as advanced communications systems capable of providing high-speed transmission ofservices such as data, voice, and video over the Internet and other networks—has become astaple infrastructure in the diet of competitive regional economies (Federal CommunicationsCommission, February 2009).This report highlights the opportunity for Sussex County, Delaware, to harness broadbandinfrastructure for economic development and urges policy action in that regard. Broadbandtechnologies are described and defined in terms of their speed, availability, and future promise.Chapter 2 reviews selected community benefits and specific applications of broadband. Chapter3 summarizes the status of broadband infrastructure and use in rural areas of the United States,with a particular focus on Sussex County. Finally, Chapter 4 provides a framework for policydiscussions aimed at enhancing and expanding broadband infrastructure and use in SussexCounty.