State House considers tax break for rural internet (South Dakota)

washingtontimes ^

[davikkm]

The state Senate has already endorsed the measure. Legislators in the House could consider it as soon as Tuesday. Companies that provide the internet service can apply for repayments of some, or all of sales taxes on a project. The state Board of Economic Development decides the amount of the refund.

[jeffc]

Not sure this would help. I'm in Florida, anyway. Wish they would do something here to get the local ISP's off their behinds. ATT is the only ISP here in my neighborhood, and they haven't expanded/increased availability for over three years. That's how long we've been waiting.

ATT sucks. They need competition.

[ISTHISONETAKEN]

This is one area where I think Trump could/should put a lot of money and effort - he got HUGE support from rural voters, most of whom can’t even get on the internet at anything other than pitiful speed.

Money spent here would be a boon for those living in the country/rural areas and keep people, jobs, and companies from being forced to move just to gain access to hi speed internet.

Housing is cheaper in the country and lots of young people might consider moving away from the major cities for a better way of life , but just try and sell a house to any young family these days if there is no access to internet.

[upchuck]

There’s no broadband access where I live in Aiken County, SC. Lots of fiber optic being run down the nearby highway, but none for us.

Dial-up became almost impossible so I got a Hot Spot from Straight Talk that uses AT&T cell phone service. There’s an AT&T cell phone tower about a mile from here.

Straight Talk has great service and I’m getting around 20 megabits per second download and 6Mbps upload. Not the fastest in the world but lightspeed compared to dial-up and plenty fast for me.