It's a simple question, but it lies at the heart of so many different industry issues: Who deserves broadband?

Let's not get too hung up in definitions of what broadband really means, here. To those who lack any kind of always-on cable modem, DSL or satellite access, such discussions are irrelevant, even if they factor heavily into global competition.

Just stop and think for a minute. Does every rural community, hoping to hang on to its schools and hospitals, not to mention its young people, deserve to get broadband access? Or, to look at it from another perspective, do people who pay less for homes and real estate by living in the country, but can't afford to pay for the cost of their broadband service, deserve to download music, play games, place bets, and generally surf the Web, while those of us already paying through the nose for our suburban homes also pay for their Internet access?

If the answer to those questions is yes, not only should the U.S. Congress turn away from anything that restricts municipal broadband projects, it should be mandating such access and funding it.

If the answer is no, then it's left for a businessman or entrepreneur or politician to figure out the dollars and sense of networking small towns and sparsely populated counties.

Unfortunately, we're stuck on maybe, which means that private companies such as telcos and cable companies that don't want to plow their investors' dollars into broadband projects that offer a slim chance of near-term return can just say "no." And they can then spend money lobbying those who can impose the restrictions on governments to prevent publicly funded high-speed access.

Yet with each passing day, the Internet and IP-based communications become more of an integral part of our lives.

President Bush has said we should have nationwide broadband by 2007, but he's way too distracted by other things to pay attention to how far off that goal we are likely to come. Discussions about using Universal Service to fund broadband are fewer and farther between.

Who deserves broadband? In the past where water, electricity and telephone service were concerned, the U.S. chose to make them ubiquitous. Technology, particularly wireless technology, is evolving to make it more possible all the time for broadband access to join the ranks of utility.

Who deserves broadband? Who gets to decide?

E-mail me at CWilson3@prismb2b.com.