The Internet is more
than games, chat rooms and easy sources of information for homework
assignments. It is business, real business, which is expanding
very, very fast. Berkeley Professor Arturo Perez-Reyes says e-commerce
is "the single greatest change to business since the invention
of money." International Data predicts the global e-commerce
market will be worth $550 billion in 2002. (Financial Times 05/17/99)
Lower Columbia businesses and residents must have reasonable access
to the Internet if we are to remain competitive. Dial-up
access is available to anyone with a telephone line but the higher
bandwidth needed for emerging business communications is not easy
to get. If you look at www.uswest.com they promote many
solutions for small businesses, until you look at the fine print
or call to actually order service. The low cost and high
bandwidth ADSL (Advanced Digital Subscriber Loop) is only available
along the I-5 corridor. So if you happen to be starting
a medical billing agency from your home in Hammond or Olney, or
your car dealership needs broadband access for training and vehicle
maintenance records, or your design firm needs to e-mail drawings
back and forth to a client, you are at a serious disadvantage
compared to our I-5 corridor cousins.
Limited bandwidth is available. Frame Relay Service (2 to
50 times faster than a dial in modem) can be ordered in Seaside,
Warrenton and Astoria. Local Internet Service Providers
can design parallel dial-in modems to double or triple your bandwidth
(assuming you have 2 or 3 extra phone lines). Satellite
downlinks allow you to bring large files into your home or office
system quickly but when sending them out the files must still
go over the slow telco line.
What actions can we take to improve our competitive edge?
First, get educated. Learn about the Internet, get on the
web and see how your competitors are using this new technology,
talk with your customers and clients to learn how telecommunications
can benefit your business relationships. Second, voice your
concerns about the dearth of rural infrastructure to local leaders
and elected officials. This is not necessarily a money issue,
"Regulation and unequal treatment of industry players is
widening the Digital Divide redlining millions of small- and medium
sized businesses, rural areas governments and educational institutions,"
reports Sol Trujillo of US West in testimony to the Senate.
Third, encourage our elected officials to take a leadership role
in promoting this new technology.
The Internet is our most important and potentially productive
tool for economic development and our businesses and citizens
must seize this opportunity! n
_______________________________________________________________________________
Link Shadley is the director of the Community Information Center
in Astoria. He has been working to improve Internet access on
the coast for seven years. He may be reached at link@ctrf.net or
503-325-8502.
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