No farmer in Iowa who cannot get broadband Internet for VOIP nor has cellphone coverage is going to get wired for BPL by a BPL provider because the provider isn't about to install tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment for one customer. There is some question whether BPL would even work in such situations due to line attenuation and phasing problems, but again, I leave it to those with more technical expertise than I to explain.

As an aside, having traveled the width and length of most of the lower United States, "lower" and parts of "upper" Canada including Labrador (five east/west continental crossings in three years, 38 States, three Provinces, 87,000 miles), I have yet to find a site in the country, even from the most remote locations in the Adirondacks and Appalachian chain to the Rockies to the Arizona deserts in which at least one 2-meter (144-148 MHz) ham radio repeater (a retransmission mode) cannot be reached; with a direct range of 50 to 150 miles (several hundreds of miles if the repeaters are linked) from a small vehicle-mounted radio. There's almost always someone at the distant end, a salvation for the numbers of stranded and lonely motorists broken down along the roadsides whom I have assisted over the years when their cellphones showed "no service" (remember, I'm a Scouter and feel obligated to help motorists in distress).

Last, regarding the emergency benefits of Amateur Radio, while the article mentioned it in a favorable light (the most positive thing stated about ham radio), the subject bears reiteration. I think we hams have demonstrated our effectiveness, flexibility, mobility, and essentiality in virtually every hamlet, village, town, city, county, parish, region, state, and the nation as a whole which has experienced natural and non-natural disasters.

We have this capability since we operate independently of commercial power, our equipment is compatible with all common radio modes like SSB (Single Side Band), AM, FM, CW (what most people know as Morse Code), with dozens of digital modes, and with each other. We have a wider selection of frequencies and bands available than any other licensed service. This permits flexibility for distance, natural propagation, and solar conditions (but does not allow for BPL interference across almost our entire long-, medium-, and short-range spectrum).

We know how to use our bands and equipment, and we have complete mobility because we carry everything we need for local, regional, and/or worldwide communications in our briefcases, in our suitcases, on our backs, in our aircraft, in our boats, or in our vehicles and have a tremendous capability for improvisation (we can make antennas from coat hangers).

I was activated for service shortly after 9/11 and served right at Ground Zero in New York City, providing communications for firemen, policemen, rescue workers, Federal and State agencies, the Red Cross, and civilians in the affected area. There were no other modes of communications available.