Good: Gov. Jay Nixon unveiled an ambitious initiative Wednesday to deliver high-speed Internet access to rural Missourians.
- Nixon announced a public-private partnership with Sho-Me Power to get $142.3 million in federal stimulus money to lay 2,500 miles of fiber- optic cable and build 200 new towers to improve rural broadband Internet connections.
- Twenty percent of Missourians live in areas not served by broadband.
- The state's $25.2 million in matching funds would help purchase the equipment to connect the new fiber across the state. While the equipment would serve the needs of both the state and Sho-Me Technologies, the state would actually own the equipment.
