Branstad boosts broadband

Gov. Terry Branstad says broadband access in Iowa isn't what it should be, or needs to be in the future. So he's asking an advisory panel to come up with some ideas.

From our man Rod Boshart at the Statehouse:

From a policy standpoint, this is a good idea. I wrote about this topic back in July, and although adoption and use are real concerns, it's access to higher-quality, higher-speed broadband that is a bigger worry in a lot of Iowa towns and rural areas. More and more businesses need more and more capacity and speed to do what they do, and some parts of the state simply can't provide what those businesses need. It keeps more than a few economic development types up at night. Schools and health care providers also have a lot at stake in this access issue.

Good broadband now is necessary infrastructure. "This is electricity of the future," said Branstad, comparing broadband expansion to rural electrification.

He's also right to view this as a public-private partnership, because the state can't do it all.  But government needs to make sure that any investments it makes actually result in valuable, expanded access. Similar federal efforts have sparked debate on Capitol Hill over the value of such public investments.

From a political standpoint, it's also likely that Branstad is eager to show whippersnappers like Rep. Tyler Olson that he can do all that gigabit stuff with the Facebook, too. In announcing his campaign for governor, Olson, a Democrat, pointed to a lack of business broadband access as a failure of the current administration. A big part of Olson's new generation strategy is to make Branstad look like dial-up CompuServe. Now, the governor has answered.

Hopefully, his panel will come up with some smart policy ideas. Although I'm not optimistic much will happen in an election year Legislature.