Providers routinely offer access to urban areas where demand is high enough to realize profits.
According to Rockefeller, rural areas are at a significant disadvantage technologically. In fact, Dorgan says, there is concentration in more than one industry, and this merger is in response to others that came before. A strong antitrust force in the Justice Department will help dampen the merger fervor, he says. Dorgan expects broadband services will grow quickly, especially in population centers, but he also wants the buildup to be universal. Something must be done outside the market system to spread broadband to less-populated areas, he says, suggesting a broadband Rural Electrification Administration program.