Connectivity in Hard-to-Reach Places

Global Mobile is on vacation this week, but I felt I should share the below:

In 1867, John Wesley Powell became the first white man to explore the Grand Canyon, filling in the last "UNKNOWN" blank spot on the maps of America.  A few decades later, in 1935, connectivity came to the bottom of the Canyon, as the CCC constructed the Trans-Canyon Telephone Line.  As you can see above, the telephone line covers some pretty hairy terrain, but FDR and the CCC knew the power of connectivity, and knew the value in connecting tourists and rangers to the world outside the Canyon.

Now, of course, we're canyoning in a more high-tech world-- America's forest rangers, for example, are plugging their smartphones into the AnaBat, a small piece of hardware to help them hear, count, and identify the bats that call the Grand Canyon home. Meanwhile, the FCC, rather than the CCC, is working to connect all Americans, bringing broadband to even the most hard-to-reach parts of our country.  Plus ça change...