What would happen if the federal government decided that city roads, bridges, and infrastructure should be better constructed and more efficient than the roads in rural America? What about if policymakers determined that urban consumers should be able to get where they are going and get what they need faster than rural consumers? A new government plan intends to make that true of our nation's information superhighway, the Internet. And while it's not the highway we drive on, rural consumers should still be very concerned.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has crafted a plan to make broadband Internet access universally available. Reliable, high.speed broadband has become the essential service of today, like electricity and telephone service were decades ago. Broadband can improve the lives of all consumers, but access is especially important for those of us living in rural America. The Internet enables farmers to monitor weather patterns and ranchers to buy and sell livestock in markets far from home. It also gives small businesses the opportunity to reach customers nationwide, offers local students the chance to take classes online, and allows doctors to remotely diagnose patients and even offer remote emergency care.

The many benefits of broadband are clear, and we applaud the government's efforts to make affordable, reliable Internet connections a reality for all Americans. But the FCC's plan will make rural Americans second class citizens in the new broadband world, because it establishes a speed goal for rural areas that is twenty-five times slower than for urban areas. Shouldn't rural communities have access to the same broadband services as our larger towns and cities?

Years ago, Congress established a universal service policy for telephone service. It required that those living in rural areas have access to communications services at prices that are affordable and reasonably comparable to those available in urban areas. Rather than support this same universal service philosophy for broadband, the FCC's plan offers faster, better service to some Americans while guaranteeing lesser service to others.

Don't let the FCC keep our rural community on the slow side of the broadband digital divide. Contact your congressional representatives and urge them to support regulatory action that ensures equal access to broadband for all Americans.