Alaska Telemedicine Program Touted as National Broadband Access Model

An Alaska telemedicine program is being hailed as a model for how broadband access can benefit rural U.S. residents. During this week's Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on "Why Broadband Matters," lawmakers such as Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) stressed the geographic difference between the country's largest state and "the lower 48."

Many Alaskans, according to Stevens, live off the state's road system. "We basically have no transportation system," Stevens said. "We've got telemedicine and tele-education in Alaska far ahead of the rest of the country."

Other witnesses at the hearing noted the importance of developing broadband connections throughout the United States primarily as a larger technological need. But Jonathan Linkous, executive director of the American Telemedicine Association, detailed the broad application of the technique nationwide. "No other state has benefited more, I might add, than the state of Alaska," Linkous said. http://stevens.senate.gov/public/...

Editor's Note:

This blog first reported on "Broadband Use and Older Adults" back in 2002 when we published a report commissioned by Verizon to illustrate the quality-of-life- enhancing benefits that broadband speed provided to senior housing residents. While it is true that Alaska has been a trailblazer -- first in connectivity, and second in content delivery -- the gap is closing as the "Lower 48" catch up to the cost-savings and benefits that a broadband connection provides to both rural and urban residents. Most seniors see the benefit as they experience reduced mobility. In such cases the Internet can replace or enhance the quality of life as people age and their worlds "become smaller."

BB