About the Campaign 

Because of uneven availability of online access, information about local issues - whether that is a crime report, an environmental hazard. or an upcoming local election - is easily and readily available to some people, but others are left out.  Bring Betty Broadband is a SWMS-sponsored Educational Effort that focuses public attention on the need for greater access, deployment and education related to broadband internet services.

For too long, the process of reaching out and educating traditionally disenfranchised communities has been left to volunteer efforts and the philanthropic community alone.  Increasing access doesn’t just assist the people who are helped, we all benefit.  Just as the value of a telephone increases when we can reach more people by using it, the value of the Internet for all of us increases when we are all connected.

Broadband and our Communities.  Today, from everything to scheduling a special garbage pickup to driver’s license renewal to voting locations are available on line. Without access to the web, parents cannot communicate with teachers or principals and children can’t do homework assignments.  

Broadband and Economic Justice.  Without adequate internet access, how does a person acquire job skills, employment information, education, and dialogue with potential employers or peer networks?  Some individuals must congregate at job sites or stand in long lines to get a job, while others can review job postings, sort by geographic location, post a resume and email thank you notes from the comfort of their homes.  

Broadband and Equal Access to Health Care.  Our country is currently debating the use of new technologies in a variety of arenas.  For example, Barack Obama’s proposals to expand health care for all Americans relies to a significant degree on adoption moving health care records to an electronic platform.  Over the long term, this means individuals without broadband access could receive poorer quality health care than those with that access. 

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