The Carolinas – in years past better known for tobacco fields and a Southern drawl – is gaining ground as a high-tech region.

Our company is based in Columbia, S.C., which is home to a new S.C. Research Authority-USC Innovation Center, an incubator for high-tech startups. In Charleston, S.C., the Digital Corridor offers low-cost office space to technology-focused startups as a way to foster and encourage their development. And the NEXT Innovation Center in Greenville serves a very similar purpose.

Our neighbor to the north, Raleigh, N.C., was just named America’s Most Wired City by Forbes magazine, beating out the likes of San Francisco and Seattle. With companies like Cisco and IBM based in the area’s Research Triangle Park, having a tech-centric approach makes perfect sense.

As a telecommunications company, our mission is provide communication tools to businesses – large and small – throughout the Carolinas. So, for your business, what makes a good wired city? What tools are you most interested in when it comes to launching or expanding your business – high-speed broadband, wireless connectivity around the city, the ability to telecommute?

Weigh in here on the No Static Blog with your communication needs? What’s the one tool that’s keeping your business from being more innovative or from growing a new product line or launching another service?