"It is as critical to the next-century economy as the Erie Canal was the last," Spitzer said. "It is how information flows, and we are living in an economy where information is the commodity that matters and it is necessary that everyone is wired."

When the average kid in South Korea has better access to broadband than the average kid in New York State, he said, "something is wrong."

'No Longer a Luxury'

Taking a long-term approach to the issue, Spitzer appointed a panel, the New York State Council for Universal Broadband, to recommend ways to extend broadband connections to remote and underserved areas. The state's chief information officer, Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, will lead the council, Spitzer announced.

"Internet access is no longer a luxury," Spitzer said. "We must implement a strategy that leads to every New Yorker having access to affordable, high-speed Internet so that they make take advantage of the economic, social and cultural opportunities it provides."

Spitzer's initiative shows that there is a new emphasis at the state level to support broadband deployment, but the dynamic is much healthier than the municipal Wi-Fi hype that exploded in 2006 and 2007, Craig Settles, a consultant to governments regarding mobile and wireless networks, said in a telephone interview.

"In rural areas and many small towns, providing access is something government should be involved in," he said, adding that, unlike with municipal Wi-Fi, residents probably don't necessarily expect it to be free.

Settles worked with local governments in rural North Carolina and Kentucky, where it was not economically feasible for the incumbent provider to come in. "In those outlying areas, they don't really have an option for technology and there's a greater need for people to be served by local or state government activity."

Rural Initiatives Feasible

A key issue is how the build-out should be funded. States are providing grant money and seeking funds from federal homeland security and other programs. "The bottom line is that the vendor picks up a check," Settles said. "There can't be any of the silliness of how advertising will pay the bills."

Looking at 2008, "we'll see more state-driven initiatives for underserved areas," Settles said. Just as municipal Wi-Fi spread as cities started talking to each other, "a similar kind of dynamic will happen at the state level," he predicted, "but with a much more pragmatic and cautious approach than cities showed."

Even though the implementation of municipal Wi-Fi -- with vendors promising to build out networks in exchange for advertising and cities paying nothing up-front -- was deeply flawed, Settles said, both city and state governments are driven from a desire to serve underserved communities.

Settles pointed out that the push for universal broadband will also be driven by the need for public safety communications. "It will only take one or two more disasters" for people to understand the emergency response aspect to wireless networks. Minneapolis received a lot of attention, for example, for the way it used wireless to communicate with residents about the I-35 bridge collapse in August.

"This stuff really does save lives," Settles said.