5 Reasons Why Rural Internet Needs to Be Improved
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) from the Federal Communications Commission swung the interest of internet providers back into rural communities. Such a move has proven to be critical as bid winners announce ambitious plans to give expanded access to rural communities. As the focus is turned to rural areas for improving their broadband needs, here are five reasons exactly why rural communities desperately need a better connection.
1. Telehealth
Rural communities were already facing the problem of lacking access to healthcare services in comparison to urban and suburban regions. With the pandemic, that problem has been laid bare even further. Telehealth was a trend rising across the rural US, but it is now even more critical that this service is expanded and improved. Rural Americans deserve to be seen by a doctor when they need to. With good internet connection, they can reliably turn to telehealth and get the care they need when they need it. Telehealth will only continue to grow for rural communities. This means increased demand for better connection.
2. Service Outage
Service outages are another huge problem that Americans generally have, which has been exacerbated by the effects of climate change in recent times. The widespread electricity shutoff caused by a winter storm in Texas also brought about broad internet outages across the state. Though the reason for this stemmed from problems with power generation, it is still a grave issue.
So many aspects of our everyday life are dependent on having internet access now. We pay our bills on the internet. We manage our bank accounts on the internet. Having good internet access is now not a luxury. It is a utility like water or power. Service outages are absolutely unacceptable considering how integrated our lives are now. For remote regions like rural communities, the issue of service outages is even bigger due to the lack of sufficient coverage by telecommunications providers. This has to change.
3. Remote Work
The pandemic has brought remote work to the center stage for every professional in the United States. However, remote work has also reminded many how important it is to have high-speed internet access. From Zoom calls disconnecting out of nowhere to slow webpage loading, inadequate internet speed is a big lag on productivity in the remote work setting.
The average rural US worker is 6 times more likely to travel extreme distances for work than the average US worker. This means higher time spent driving and sitting in traffic, as well as increased fuel consumption costs. From this standpoint, rural workers in the US have the most to benefit from remote work in general. However, good remote work cannot be carried out without having good enough internet access and this is doubly important for rural workers where Internet access is already a huge issue.
4. Information Security
Americans are increasingly experiencing major data breaches, resulting in the loss of sensitive information. A data breach is always an issue wherever the user is located, but this problem is even more problematic for rural residents. Due to a lack of sufficient support and access, data breaches asymmetrically affect rural workers. Expansion of coverage and bringing services closer to rural areas will bring the information security that rural internet users need.
5. Smarter Agriculture
The most important reason why better internet access is critical is that US farmers are in fact adapting to technological progress. They are modernizing their equipment and working with advanced technologies. The fact that they are increasingly using smartphones and tablets to conduct business means that they require internet access that keeps up with such steps forward. US Agriculture is getting smarter by the day. Better internet access for all farmers is the bedrock that smart farming needs.