Public television stations are excited by the capacity of digital television to provide a new generation of high-speed digital services to their communities. However, this optimism does not always apply to Rural America. Sixty-five million Americans live in rural areas, yet only 5 million have access to broadband technologies. Because of this gap, 60 million Americans living in rural communities are suffering—economically and educationally. Rural economic development is increasingly falling behind because of the lack of access to high-speed telecommunications services. Rural public television stations can address this technological isolation through their digital spectrum. Specifically, these public television stations are committed to using their digital bandwidth to bring advanced telecommunications services, either Internet, video, or audio, to rural areas at rates that far exceed what can be carried by an ordinary telephone voice circuit. The conversion of public television stations serving these areas will also preserve free, over-the-air educational television to rural Americans.