Thanks, Obama! High speed Internet in rural Tennessee
http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2017/01/08/elusive-high-speed-internet-sprouts-rural-tennessee/93451036/(This is about something quite beneficial that resulted from the Stimulus Bill, early in the Obama administration. It is hard to fathom why voters in this area think that their interests are better served by Trump and the GOP).
"Seven years ago, the going internet speed in rural Scott County was 1.5 megabits per second — near the bottom rung for most large providers — and the slower speed applied to businesses, homes and medical clinics.
With residents spread out, about three homes per mile, upgrades were cost-prohibitive. But with an unemployment rate hovering above 18 percent and another 400 jobs lost in a span of months, the need was significant.
“We needed the infrastructure to make it attractive to potential industries to move in,” Highland Telephone Cooperative CEO and General Manager Mark Patterson said. “How do you tell a rural area that it’s not cost effective, so you are just left on the other side of the digital divide?”
Scott County, located 60 miles northwest of Knoxville, has a population of 22,000 and is classified by the state as economically distressed, yet its local cooperative now offers among the fastest internet services in the state and the nation. The recent upgrades that include 2,700 miles of fiber installation stem from a $67 million federal grant awarded to Highland Telephone Cooperative in 2010, part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
As Tennessee officials grapple with how to improve broadband access in rural areas as a means for economic improvement, Highland and other companies in rural Tennessee are demonstrating how grant dollars can be leveraged to spur much-needed infrastructure investments.".........
= new reply since forum marked as read
Edit to add: You mentioned the will of municipalities to take up the president's offer. Rural is that antonym of municipal. There is no municipal government in the country- we are outside the city limits.
There was all kinds of ways to deliver ADSL to remote equipment but VZ would not approve the equipment. Perhaps the reason is they did not want to invest in the technology since the PTB were already of a mind to dump California, Texas and Florida. We technicians were certainly aware of the ways to deliver internet to rural customers but the company was not willing.
The problem needs to be seen as one of national importance like rural electrification and land lines in the 20th century. Doing it piece meal relying upon companies to voluntarily make the effort will never result in universal service. This holds as well for cell phone coverage and cable. The companies understandably will not invest in areas where they will get little or no chance of a return.
It worked for those other services because the providers were required to serve the less profitable areas if they wish to serve the high profit areas. I suppose this is a socialist type plan. I know what works. With the current downturn in the whole of government this will be a non-starter for at least the next 4 years.
The rural areas that received internet service during Pres. Obama's presidency may lose it because the funding to maintain service will likely be cut. There are electric bills to pay, technicians to service and make repairs (includng their trucks, test equipment, spare parts and tools). You know that saying, "keep it simple, stupid." Well the real world is anything but simple. It is a complex matrix of interconnections.
ROTFLMAO @ your Trump/Kanye sig graphic! 
