| Sumario: | Part of a special section on rural America's information age. The economic future of rural communities depends on their ability to use emerging telecommunications technologies. Rural communities have historically been based on natural resources or low-cost labor, but as the U.S. moves more toward services, and knowledge-based industries in particular, rural economies that have depended on their ability to provide these two main economic elements will suffer and decline. Rural leaders must set up a formal body to help plans for their telecommunications future, making sure that their citizens have access to the equipment and have the skills to use the telecommunications system and its application. In addition, they should also help to ensure that rural businesses fit into the new information economy.
|
|---|