Stimulus package to expand Net's reach

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will hand out $4.7 billion, while the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service will administer $2.5 billion in grants.

It's about time, said Simmonds, 68, a retired carpenter and glassworker, who said he would like to watch Internet video and look into remote health-monitoring tools.

"We've been trying to just get DSL, that'd be fantastic out here," he said. "We've been mainly a dial-up community."

Much like the Rural Electrification Administration in the 1930s lit up the countryside, the stimulus bill should help deliver an affordable and needed utility to many residents, some of whom don't even know what they're missing.

"Most people are begging for this," said Andrew Cardin, vice president of DigitalPath, a small wireless Internet service provider in Chico. "There are some people who don't see the relevance because they haven't had the experience of what broadband can provide them. But once they have it, they won't give it up."

Stimulus package to expand Net's reach

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