Right now, I’m sitting in a back booth of the Hitchins Post, having a delightful curry. I’d planned to stay here for a while and get some work done.
I often work out of my home office, or one of the two library branches, but I like the indiscriminate background noise of working in a public place. I particularly like the Hitchins Post on days like today, when I need to concentrate, because it’s laid back and the background noise is never obtrusive. Prathvi’s curry, of course, doesn’t hurt either.
I’d stay here longer today, but as I set up my laptop I realized I didn’t download one of the files I need before I left the house. At the same time, I remembered that some of the information for another article needed to be pulled from an online source.
And I don’t have internet access in Hitchins.
Most of the other places I work out of, I hotspot off my phone; but Hitchins is a cell phone dead zone, at least for me.
It’s a serious problem throughout the region, and one that is complicated by the geography much more than it might be in other parts of the country. But it’s one that shouldn’t be overlooked as we strive to secure investment in eastern Kentucky’s information infrastructure upgrades.
We’ve realized the economic, educational, and other social impacts of limited internet access – and we’ve invested in that, as a nation and a state. We’re seeing some of those new high speed internet lines coming through neighborhoods all around this little pocket of land where I sit as I write this.
But we can’t accept that as the full solution and be done. More than 92% of internet users access the internet with their cell phone service at least some of the time. Another 15%, according to surveys conducted by Pew Research Center, use their cell phones exclusively to access the internet, foregoing home internet.
For most of the folks who fall into that first 92% that isn’t always a big problem. They use wi-fi for home, and phones when out and about. If they need something, they can wait until they have service or get home.
But not everyone has the luxury of both. Some of those 15% will live in town, where they get regular cell service, and they might choose to cancel home internet to save money. But there are also folks who live in more rural areas, who can’t afford both, but need a cell phone for work and other contact. Not having regular internet service can impact the ability of their children to perform well in school. It can also limit a family’s job and continuing education opportunities.
From a business point of view, Bob likely lost a few sales today because the cell providers don’t cover the area around his store. That isn’t his fault, or anything he did wrong. But the fact that I had to go back into town to finish my work means I didn’t have a second drink. I didn’t pick up a dessert. I didn’t order a cup of coffee after my meal. Even if Bob offered free wi-fi, it’s not the kind of thing everyone would be comfortable using. I don’t think my stories are big fodder for hackers, but someone’s bank account information might be.
Then there is the safety issue. If you come across an accident, and you need to contact emergency services, you want to do it immediately – not 10 miles up the road, when you finally pick up a bar, and stop so you don’t lose it around the next curve.
I know it’s exactly the kind of terrain that creates those curves that makes cell service here so tricky.
It isn’t easy.
But it needs to be a priority of our infrastructure upgrades as well
High speed fiber internet is great. It’s going to be fantastic for our rural communities. It’s going to benefit of lot of individuals, children, families, and businesses. We’re glad that it’s finally coming to our communities. But that’s just part of the battle.
We need to make it clear to our elected officials that this should be the next infrastructure priority here in eastern Kentucky. This isn’t done when the last fiber cable is laid. There is still progress that needs made.
For safety.
For commerce.
For quality of life.
