Fortunately in Lockhart, Estrada and his staff were already shepherding through a plan to address this digital divide before COVID-19 hit.With the help of a local Internet provider, the district is installing seven booster towers outside each of its schools. These will beam the Internet into every home that needs it across the 300-square-mile district. It will be free to families, costing the district just $30 a year per household.
Before COVID-19, schools like Lockhart were already looking to modernize their curriculum and better suit the needs of a 21st century student. For instance, teachers figured that sometimes it's more practical for students to do some coursework remotely, assuming they have workable Internet, while meeting at other parts of the day for more interactive lessons.
"But I think that this is an opportunity for us to really reimagine how we can use our resources," Estrada says.Finding opportunity out of a crisis is something Jessica Rosenworcel preaches all the time at the Federal Communications Commission. Since 2012, she's been a lead voice on the FCC in the push to digitize rural America. Her calls are getting louder since the COVID-19 pandemic, when tens of millions of Americans have been shuttered in their homes.
Poor choice to use Mr. Stoehr as the example. Boy, I sure feel sorry for him, not! Fleeing to your rural vacation home and whining about your satellite internet while others are actually suffering. Enjoy the nice view, jerk.
I am a teacher. I can't teach from home like most. I live in SE Ohio, not even 3 miles from a state highway. I have no internet (except hughesnet which doesn't allow me to watch a video from youtube or upload anything much less participate in a live classroom discussion)
My folks live in rural area. Reinvestment Act $ was used by providers to expand service to locations just population threshold. still “rural.” Technically legal. Not used as intended to expand access to areas without it. Now, it’s still the case. My folks’ service is terrible.
Yeah, in Alabama on the way to the Gulf some places have nothing, no cell phone connection, no WiFi
It’s way past time for all students and adults to have access to the internet.
DeltaRegional
The internet is a utility and should be nationalized.
No thanks. Rural people will be healthier and more peaceful without the added vibration. Now get the rumble strips off the highways so that vibration is eliminated also. And plane patterns that don't buzz our houses.
I have 38 yrs in with a rural teleco coop in Ky and we were one of the 1st in state to start deploying fiber over 12 years ago took 8 years to complete and lots of $ but 100% of our customers have a Gig available. It is not your rural independent teleco that is the problem
And Comcast and centurylink hold the reigns - they have the cables - they are already there - they refuse access - they want $$$$$$ - we need to make the internet a utility!!!!!!
SpaceXStarlink is the solution, so SpaceX needs to accelerate deployment of their satellites. That is a much faster way to deploy internet to dead spots.
They ran a fiber optic cable within a mile of me. But, they hooked it to a 50 year old copper phone line that has multiple splices in it. 🤷🏻♂️
They hate the government, and corporations don't much care about them. Maybe I would feel bad, but they all vote GOP and are not too tolerant so I kind of feel like they deserve their misfortune.
some of us are fine in living in deadzones. we're okay. We assure the government. We have more to our lives than the internet.
Where will the money come from. Start taxing foreign companies doing business in America. Or, put tariffs (taxes) on all their products.
Please!
The pandemic is yet another exposure of 'digital divide'. This has been a major problem for more than twenty years. Educators exposed it. Medical professionals talked about it. Democrats & election officials raised the issue many times. Infrastructure legislation must include.
Let’s enable these folks to be prepared for the world after pandemic. It will affect them and are they prepared
Idea The U.S. should consider internet a utility. Ensure that all people have access to internet. To address the USPS problem, the post office would then have an email portal to curb paper mail .That frees up the post office to focus on packages & special deliveries.
Musk will have Starlink up and running before the government even thinks about forcing telecom to live up to their promises.
Even new rural electronic infrastructure screams “big government” unnecessarily to people should have no worries and which would benefit most. Problem is a certain segment of voters (MAGA/GOP) have “jumped the shark”, & they perceive the best government is NO government. AT ALL.
Get your gosh dang 5G away from us, ya hear?! We ain’t got enough bleach to fight off the corona radiation
These companies got money from government to expand but, didn’t use the funds. I live in rural area. If your out the country your service is awful. We are just starting to get fiber here.
Internet access needs to be treated as essential utility infrastructure.
After the worst of this crisis is over, a major component of our economic recovery has to be infrastructure updating, including 100% internet connectivity, electrical grid security, and burying all utility lines underground.
Obama did this with Reinvestment Act.
we just got internet service in our rural dead zone at seventy five dollars a month! I don’t know if that’s fair or not, as I don’t have anything to compare it with. oh yea still have to walk up the hill for phone zone.
Let's be real. The digital divide in rural parts of the country is not a new issue. It's just that it has come up again as an issue. Unfortunately, as an American I think it's safe to say this issue will again be ignored and nothing done as it's something that'll benefit people.
Maybe these states should consider bankruptcy.
This “Pandemic” is a pre-planned event to push all of us into perpetual debt-slaves in a digitized cashless “Great Society” that evening LBJ couldn’t imagine. It is to bring in a New World 🌎 Order, managed by International Jewish Banksters. POTUS PUPPET! usslibertyvets 🇺🇸
Government overreach creates a problem and your solution is more government overreach? You might want to rethink everything.
So, they want government to step in and pay so they can watch Netflix? Where is the free market? I hope they reject this socialist scheme! Sounds like the welfare they hate when it’s given to people in big cities.
These are the people that brought us Trump. This is what they voted for. Let them wither and feel no guilt. They deserve the privation coming their way.
Please, and finally!
Try breaking up telecom monopolies and actually holding them accountable on their infrastructure improvement promises.
Booo! 5G isn’t healthy. Wait for Elon’s Star Link.
If I was the town I’d hold off till Star Link elonmusk
Its that possable huh? Hmmm....
To bad something like this isn’t happening in rural NY.
Thank you.
Thirty clams a year ain't free.
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