Open Forum

Other broadband

Dear Editor, There was a glaring factual error in the article announcing Pinpoint Communication's plans to use Level 3 facilities to deliver broadband services in rural areas of Nebraska. The article's author states, "... is providing private line and Internet connectivity services from Pinpoint that will enable people throughout rural Nebraska to enjoy services that were previously only available in larger cities such as Omaha and Denver."

Had this statement been researched, the author would have known that many areas surrounding McCook are enjoying broadband services that rival or surpass those found in Omaha and Denver. Hayes Center, Palisade, Trenton, Stratton, Indianola, Grant, and Imperial are some of your nearby communities that are connected to the world through Great Plains Communications with some of the highest-quality, highest- capacity telecommunications services possible.

We applaud Pinpoint's efforts to bring broadband services to additional rural areas, just as Great Plains Communications has been doing for the past several years. It's true, rural economic development depends in part on the availability of advanced telecommunications technology.

What is not true is the assertion that all of rural Nebraska is a technology wasteland. Great Plains Communications and several other dedicated rural telecommunications companies have made tremendous progress in bridging the perceived urban-rural gap in technology. In fact, many urbanites in the cities mentioned in the article would be quite jealous of the services available in the communities we serve.

Kent Grisham Director, Marketing & Public Relations Great Plains Communications Inc. Blair

Put them to work

Dear Editor, My fellow Americans: Let us think about it! We taxpayers have provided the necessary essentials to have given them there Iraquis their Democracy.

Yet, many of them are unemployed and still complain about having no money, food, electricity, water, housing and etcetera.

Put them to work rebuilding the infrastructure the insane madman Saddam Hussein nearly bombed out of existence.

Steve Stramel, McCook