Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

This is why governments have passed incentive acts to help. In the United States, that came from the Rural Electrification Act[0]. It was a recognition that rural areas are critical to our urban areas because they provide food and resources, in addition to an occasional oddball university location or something to stare at on a transcon flight.

Although the law is nearly 90 years old, it continues to be foundational for supporting rural communities. In 2014 it was updated to provide support for rural electric and telephone cooperatives to supply gigabit internet. And that’s why the north woods of Minnesota often has better internet than large swaths of Minneapolis and St Paul.

[0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Electrification_Act




Seems like providing the north woods of Minnesota better internet than the Twin Cities is a rather poor investment of resources


What is poor is not providing the Twin Cities with fiber to the home internet. No need for it to be one or the other.


It's interesting that 90 years ago, supplying your own electrical power was unthinkable. Also, there were communities that existed in advance of electrification, so there was at least some population density to justify wired power.

For people moving into a relatively unpopulated area, in a different country, it might make more sense today, to let people bring in their own power generation, maybe subsidize it a bit if needed.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: