I made one phone call to the small town phone company thinking they might have a business option that we could have for high speed internet but I was prepared for them to tell me they offered dial-up service only. Our future was in limbo because of this phone call. My local telephone company not only had internet service, they had broadband internet. High speed. Lightning fast.
At about the 10 minute point of this video can hear me tell more of the story of making that call. This video was produced and shared yesterday by BEK Communications. Unfortunately, the FCC is threatening to cut our high speed internet funding. It would cut profits of small, rural telephone cooperatives by 20-30%. Therefore, BEK is sharing stories of people on the prairie, telling how they use and need high speed internet.
Now there are a lot of issues that we take on ourselves and fix with out the government’s help. We work hard. Our state is booming with energy and agriculture. We have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. Need a job? We have thousands. But taking our high speed internet funding from us is a issue and problem we cannot fix on our own.
In order to keep growing and quite literally for our family business that my husband now operates alongside his parents to keep building, our rural infrastructure has to be wired for growth. We need high speed internet.
good luck, katie! i truly hope the funding remains. i can’t imagine losing high speed internet just for my personal use – much less when you need it for work and family business!
Good luck. I am sending up a prayer on this issue for you! I believe you all deserve this with all my heart.
High speed internet needs to be common place everywhere in this day and age. I don’t see how business growth can continue without it. Nice to see your video clip and you speaking out about this issue.
Good for you Katie! I don’t know how anyone could get along without high speed these days. Hoping all works out for you.
Oh gosh, I hope the funding doesn’t get pulled. You’re fighting an eloquent fight – you got my vote to keep it!
Lovely, Katie, of course. And you know what? It’s really not just about the tools but what we are doing with them. But we can’t stay engaged with the world without the tools. I wholeheartedly agree! Thanks for being an important voice and being courageous enough to share that strong opinion. 🙂
Articulately done, Katie. Seems like pulling high speed internet would be putting rural America back in the dark ages. And with North Dakota’s reputation for job growth and low unemployment,I can’t imagine that a decision to pull this service would be wise for anyone. Proud of what you are doing..
R and “boys”