I am very happy for Harriman. As Whitescreek noted, broadband access is a vital service.

I have to wonder though--what about the rest of us?

Yes, Harriman, even with DSL and cable available, is under-served. This grant is wonderful news for them.

But if Harriman is under-served, Eagle Furnace and some other neighborhoods are under-under-under-served. Eagle Furnace is not served at all. Eagle Furnace has no DSL, no cable, not even wi-fi or cell service where I live. Even ISDN doesn't work anymore.

Yes, residents here can fork over hundreds for equipment upfront plus $$$ each month for satellite so-called "broadband." But even the $121/month "business" satellite account I have is pitifully slow.

During busy periods--since everyone shares the limited resources of the satellite--satellite service is often slower than dial-up, even a lot slower than dial-up. Upload speeds are more like upload crawls. And don't get me started about the huge latency. Plus, in bad weather, there is often no service at all.

That "business" satellite account also has a ridiculously low daily cap of 500MB (except between 2AM and 7AM). That's about an hour or so of video, one TV show or maybe a short movie, or a good-sized Windows update--if I don't do anything else, such as volunteering for the local fire department.

The WestRoane.com website files alone total over 6.5 GB, more than 13 times my daily "business" limit. I dread the day--or fortnight--that I have to re-upload everything because of a server change. Another site, RoaneTNHistory.org, is over 21 GB and growing. If that server goes it could take me well over a month to re-upload the files. And those aren't the only local sites I worry about.

I find myself doing more online between 2AM and 7AM than I want to.

Voice-over-IP is only a dream, too, so with no cell service available I have to pay AT&T for landlines, about $66/month. We have to pay Dish Network hefty fees if we want video. In addition, video-based meetings and schooling are out.

Many opportunities for employment are out, too. I've seen quite a few telecommuting job ads state the modern-day equivalent of "No satellite need apply."

We are not "file-sharing," ever. We are just trying to live our ordinary, normal, under-served lives in very slow 500MB daily doses.

In short, no matter what the satellite companies' marketing departments say, satellite is not broadband. Still, paying so much for so little is better than nothing, and we hope for a brighter future with true, internationally competitive broadband.

-- OneTahiti

I tried to congratulate Harriman Mayor Chris Mason today on his score for Harriman. He didn't know what I was talking about but said he'd find out.

Funny!