Author: Craig Settles

Analysis: The Hope and Hype of Telehealth and COVID-19

President Trump has mentioned telehealth as part of the response to COVID-19. That approach raises serious questions about the digital divide and rural residents’ lack of broadband access. Maybe there should be a revised Hippocratic Oath for the digital age. First, “take care that they suffer no hurt or damage.” […]

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Schools, Libraries Are Obvious Setting For Telehealth

With faster connections and easy accessibility, these community institutions are the logical place to offer telehealth services. When communities design broadband infrastructure to facilitate healthcare and telehealth delivery, they obviously plan to connect medical practitioners’ hospitals, offices and other healthcare facilities. Network connections to homes are growing in importance as government […]

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Telehealth Changes Will Increase Rural Broadband Demand

New federal policies will make it easier for Americans to use telehealth. Rural communities should be looking for ways to leverage the new demand into better internet connections at home. Several policy changes from Washington, D.C., should accelerate urban and rural telehealth deployments. On November 1 the Centers for Medicare […]

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A wireless internet transmitter on the right cell tower beams data to subscribers in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Photo by Shawn Poynter/Daily Yonder

Broadband Analysis: Scrappy Wireless ISPs Get the Job Done

Rural areas don’t need to wait on expensive and hard-to-build fiber-to-the-home networks to start using broadband. In many cases, fixed wireless can provide a fast and affordable last-mile connection in underserved areas. And some communities are building the system themselves. WISPs – Wireless Internet Service Providers – are the un-song […]

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