20 December 2000

An open letter to
	Representative Frank Wolf, 
	Delegate Richard Black, 
	The Loudoun Easterner:

	I am a fairly new resident of Loudoun County; I recently moved to
Loudoun so that I might reside closer to my place of employment, one of
the larger Internet/technology companies in the Dulles corridor.  Indeed,
in recent years, the corridor has become the hot spot for technology
companies in Northern Virginia.  With big players such as America Online,
Worldcom, PSINet and Oracle, to name a few, this dubbed  silicon valley of
the east  has seen rapid growth that does not appear to be slowing down
anytime soon.  

	At the same time, it has become readily apparent to me that this
moniker is quite premature.  Though the region (and especially Loudoun)
has sought - and succeeded - in bringing many of the big-name companies in
the technology sector to Dulles, there is one aspect to this scheme where
the region has most miserably failed its residents and constituency.
	
	Specifically, I am talking about the severe lack of any sort of
quality broadband internet connection for most residents of the immediate
region.  DSL is not available through much, if not all, of the
Reston/Herndon/Eastern Loudoun area, due to lack of existing copper and
the inability/unwillingness of Verizon to remedy this.
Cable modem service in Loudoun through Adelphia is, from what I ve seen,
flaky at best. Unofficially, it s been reported that they have stopped
taking new customers because their networks are so oversubscribed.
Regardless, the fact that Adelphia employs an antiquated unidirectional
system makes it wholly unacceptable for use by high-tech
employees needing access to broadband networks to do work from home.
									
	Several years ago, Loudoun began a great push to lure more and
more technology companies to its eastern borders. Using business and tax
incentives as a most tantalizing carrot, Loudoun waved this carrot in
noses of prospective companies.  However, the complaints are now becoming
very loud within the high-tech community, regarding our frustration and
inability to telecommute - which becomes even more an issue when looking
at traffic and sprawl issues -- and the futility of the
entire situation.  I have talked with more than my share of high-tech
employees who transferred to this highly-touted region, only to find
themselves mired down by the utter lack of quality Internet connectivity.  

	Loudoun has lured the companies out here - for now.  However, its
inability to supply adequate broadband to the growing number of employees
in the technology sector has become a thorn in our respective sides, and
might very possibly hinder any further growth of the tech sector.  

	Should Loudoun have balked at bringing these companies out here
without adequate infrastructure?  Perhaps.  Is there anything Loudoun can
do about it now?  Probably not. 

	Should Loudoun do something about assuring broadband availability
to its increasingly frustrated tech sector?  Most definitely.


Corey Welton (corey@balance.wiw.org) 
Sterling