Rural Area Broadband Access
A large portion of America is rural. These are small towns or communities that are not near major urban areas. These areas are isolated from many of the conveniences that urban dwellers take for granted. Recent events with COVID have shown us how important it is for these rural areas to have modern broadband access. Broadband access is defined by speeds of 100 million bits per second received by an internet device and 20 million bits of data that can be transmitted by that device. The Rural Broadband Foundation has been established to make this a reality in our rural areas.
Our Mission Statement
The Rural Broadband Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), organization that works with the internet service providers and rural electric cooperatives to provide high-speed internet access to rural areas.
The Problem
The recent COVID pandemic has unearthed a problem in our nation. It was necessary for thousands of our school children to learn virtually. It was soon discovered that many of our rural areas had little or no internet access. What access they had was old slow technology.
Currently almost 1 in 4 rural households, schools, farms, and businesses have slow or no internet access. Among Native Americans the number is closer to 1 in 3.
Recent events have shown how necessary if is for rural areas to have the latest technology in case of an emergency. Rural airports and emergency management centers do not have access to modern internet speeds. This endangers people. High speed internet is the backbone of modern society. It is necessary for rural areas to be brought into the twenty first century.
In rural areas our country has failed to give these people the tools necessary to progress, or in some instances, to save their lives. Our nation’s food supply suffers from lack of modern technology. It is necessary for rural areas to be furnished the technology to move into modern society.
To fail to update rural internet service is costing our country billions in lost revenue and sending thousands of fellow Americans on a path to lower futures. The Rural Broadband Foundation is striving to correct this problem.
Our Services
The Rural Broadband Foundation quickly realized that current attempts to provide high speed internet to rural areas was bound to fail. The problem is simple, no one company has the wherewithal to solve the problem.
The Rural Broadband Foundation is a nonprofit organization. This means we are not pushing one solution to the problem. We quickly realized that to bring high speed internet to rural areas would require a coordination of resources from internet service providers, electrical equipment manufacturers, rural electric co-ops, education centers, local, state, and federal governments.
The Rural Broadband Foundation believes we have a solution to rural broadband and want to work with all the necessary parties to bring it about.