The most expensive internet in America: fighting to bring affordable broadband to American Samoa

The most expensive internet in America fighting to bring affordable broadband to American Samoa

"You could argue that there's some value in it."

That's New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking candidly during a recent interview at D10 in California. The topic of conversation? Widespread WiFi, and whether or not the government should be the one thinking about its future ubiquity. More specifically, if WiFi hotspots should be treated like "roads or water supply," as aptly stated by AllThingsD's Kara Swisher.

This obviously isn't the first time such an idea has crossed the minds of those connected to Washington, D.C. Muni-Fi (municipal wireless networks) projects were all the rage a few years back, but one spectacular failure after another swiftly extinguished that momentum. In more modern times, America (as well as other nations) has sought to solve the "rural broadband" problem, bringing high(er)-speed internet connections to places with a higher bovine population than human.

But bringing broadband to places like rural North Dakota seems like an easy chore to a small, but passionate, group of 60,000 sitting some 4,770 miles from San Diego, California. American Samoa may be an unincorporated US territory located closer to pure bliss than the hustle and bustle of Wall Street, but it's no doubt being taken into consideration in recent mapping projects aiming to pinpoint the areas most lacking in terms of digital infrastructure. Unbeknownst to most mainlanders, this fragile island chain is home to the most expensive internet in America, and the political issues surrounding it are astonishing. Head on past the break to learn more on what I discovered.

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The most expensive internet in America: fighting to bring affordable broadband to American Samoa originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Distro Issue 47: Made in the USA edition

Distro Issue 47 Made in the USA edition

It's that time of the year when folks in the US of A tend to get a tad bit patriotic. Pretty soon, those of us in the States will be all about grilling and putting back a few hot dogs and / or hamburgers before rushing off to catch some fireworks. We're looking to keep the spirit alive in our weekly, too. This time around, we offer up a Made in the USA edition with editorials that tackle Nevada's solar-geothermal hybrid power plant and just how much coin it takes to offer internet in American Samoa -- along with a few more stops in between. The Nexus 7 and Nexus Q were revealed at Google I/O and we offer some initial thoughts on the pair of gadgets from the folks in Mountain View. Find yourself jonesin' for a closer look at that fancy Tesla S? You're in luck. You'll find some detail shots of the new $50,000 EV in "Eyes-On" this week. So what are you waiting for? There's a monster truck on the cover for crying out loud! Dive right in to the latest issue via your download method of choice.

Distro Issue 47 PDF
Distro in the iTunes App Store
Distro in the Google Play Store
Distro APK (for sideloading)
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Distro Issue 47: Made in the USA edition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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