‘You’re Doing This To Allow Your Communities To Survive:’ Rural Electric Co-ops On Broadband

Since 2010, nearly 100 co-ops have been providing broadband Internet to their customers.

By Paul Flahive May 23, 2019 9:30 am, , , ,

From Texas Public Radio:

The internet has become a necessity, and access is lacking in rural Texas.  At least 1.8 million Texans don’t have broadband internet access. Estimates are as high as 80% of those without live in rural communities. This is part three of TPR’s multi-part series: Connecting Rural Texas.

Some rural Texas communities are turning to an old playbook to connect the hundreds of thousands lacking access.

There are a myriad of reasons to bridge that digital divide, from slowing the brain drain in that area, to spurring innovation in farming and reinvigorating small town economies.

The same reasons advocates use to promote broadband today were used eighty years ago to push rural electrification.

Read more.