SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) - A federal court upheld the FCC's decision to treat the Internet as a utility.
Marty Newell with the Rural Broadband Policy Group calls the ruling a victory for consumers. He says broadband is not optional, it's not a luxury. He says there was a time when Internet access may have been considered a luxury, but not any longer.
Newell says it's a necessity in the similar fashion that we once looked a telephone.
Newell says the ruling is especially critical for rural areas of the nation underserved by broadband.
He says the competition in rural America is not nearly as great. He says it's critical that this communications tool, absolutely essential to doing business in the 21st century, be an open system.
Of the 19 million Americans who don't have broadband, more than 14 million live in rural parts of the country.
Newell says a lot of money is at stake and he knows the legal challenges will continue. Something the industry giants have promised.
(Thanks Greater Dakota News Service)