Digital divide up east—Verizon and redlining

The Boston Globe examines the charge that the Verizon telephone company is cherry-picking only the wealthiest places for its fiber build:

Affluent Wellesley and Westwood, along with more middle-class Canton and Dedham, bring to 24 the number of Boston-area suburbs where Verizon has confirmed it is building its so-called FiOS service.

Of the 24, three-quarters rank among the 50 wealthiest Bay State cities and towns, according to the 2000 US Census.

Alert readers will recall that Mike covered a similar analysis of SBC's strategy in Illinois. SBC's and BellSouth's market strategies are remarkably similar.

The more of this I read, the happier I am to be in Lafayette where a public utility will ensure equal access.