Rural broadband needs addressed by stimulus, but poor city residents say it shortchanges them

Rural residents are not alone in a lack of broadband access, but while they're reaping benefits from the stimulus package, critics say others are being left behind. They worry that the urban poor are being ignored.

The stimulus dedicates $250 million to service and training in cities, compared to the $7.2 billion set aside for rural areas. Cecilia Kang writes for The Washington Post that "interest groups say the amount is not enough to help an estimated 21 million low-income people get online." While rural areas suffer from a lack of broadband options, urban areas face the problem of paying for service, rather than a lack of access.

Judith Theodore shuffles between public libraries in Washington, D.C., so her oldest child can use a computer on homework and she can look for a job. She notes that her son received his first failing grade after the library's networks crashed. "The Internet is becoming as important as electricity and gas," she said. (Read more)