Broadband NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 Broadband Fri, 17 Sep 2021 21:10:13 +0000 https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Seth Bodine The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing millions of dollars to expand broadband in rural areas, but rural internet providers are facing shortages and long waits for equipment. The USDA is allocating $167 million in grants and loans to broadband providers in Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado, Georgia, North Dakota, Arizona, Alaska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia in the latest round of the ReConnect program. The funds are part of $550 million Congress provided for the program in 2020 and 2021. The Senate sent a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which includes $65 billion for broadband expansion, to the House this week. Broadband providers already are having a hard time getting equipment. Shirley Bloomfield, the CEO of the National Rural Broadband Association, says providers says that they can’t get 30-40% of the needed equipment to install broadband. This includes fiber, which she says companies are waiting up to 71 weeks to be delivered. “(Fiber manufacturers) are https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/usda-helping-expand-rural-broadband-providers-face-equipment-shortages 1035 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 11 Aug 2021 20:09:03 +0000 The USDA Is Helping Expand Rural Broadband, But Providers Face Equipment Shortages Seth Bodine Rural areas are often the last to receive broadband. The lack of broadband is similar to another issue that rural communities faced decades ago — rural electrification. About 22% of Americans who live in rural areas that lack broadband, compared to 1.5% of those in cities, according to the Federal Communications Commission. “In rural areas, you can have less than 10 customers for every mile of fiber optics that you have,” says Hamid Vahdatipour, CEO of Lake Region Electric Cooperative. “In town, that number could go as high as 50 or 70 customers per mile, so it is difficult to provide this kind of service for rural America.” Vahdatipour says rural broadband faces the same basic challenge as electricity: for-profit companies don’t want to invest. The federal government fixed that issue by setting up cooperatives to help rural residents pay to install poles and lines. Now the same cooperatives that set up electricity want to add broadband to their list of services. But while the https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/first-electricity-now-internet-rural-areas-struggle-gain-infrastructure 1029 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 29 Jul 2021 21:46:29 +0000 First Electricity, Now Internet: Rural Areas Struggle To Gain Infrastructure Gary Smith has worked at the grain elevator at Okaw Farmer’s Co-op in Lovington, Illinois, for 40 years. On his desk sit two computer screens, where he tracks corn and soybean prices online at the Chicago Board of Trade. As he explained, trade moves fast: “Just bam bam bam, and within a few seconds it could change a nickel or a dime against your favor.” https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/rural-businesses-see-high-costs-slow-internet-speeds 586 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 07 Sep 2018 15:52:43 +0000 Rural Businesses See High Costs, Slow Internet Speeds Ben Kuebrich Ashley Leal parks in front of the Plains, Kansas, Community Library . It’s about to close, but she doesn’t care. She pulls out her blue laptop. “I’m ... using the Wi-Fi,” Leal says with a laugh. Her home internet was so slow, she came to the library parking lot. Cars often idle there in the evening while their drivers tap into a plodding, but treasured, link to the internet. “I’m just thankful that we have somewhere to go,” Leal says. It’s the only free internet in this small western Kansas town. For many people, it’s the only internet, period. Surprisingly, part of the problem and the solution, for rural areas may lie in Netflix traffic. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/what-netflix-and-net-neutrality-could-mean-so-slow-internet-small-town-kansas 497 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 24 Apr 2018 19:23:11 +0000 What Netflix And Net Neutrality Could Mean For So-Slow Internet In Small-Town Kansas Erica Hunzinger Since the George W. Bush administration , the federal government has doled out millions of dollars with the promise to expedite access to broadband service in remote parts of the country. President Donald Trump is no exception, having signed an executive order earlier this month directing the government to use “all viable tools” to speed up the process to locate wireless technology on federal buildings in rural areas. Plus, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai just proposed putting a $500 million toward rural broadband. While all political persuasions agree with the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Task Force report that broadband is critical for the economic health of a large swath of the country, experts say the devil is in the details — or lack thereof. They also say Pai’s infusion of money does little more than restore funding that previously had been cut. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/rural-broadband-experts-new-government-efforts-short-money-show-promise 436 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 22 Jan 2018 19:54:11 +0000 Rural Broadband Experts: New Government Efforts Short On Money, But Show Promise