Rural Broadband

We cannot have an audio connectivity tour without touching on a big issue in our country, state and communities, rural broadband.

Did you know that more than 200,000 K-12 students, or 14% of all Virginia Students- lack broadband or internet in their home? Students in rural communities are 2x more likely not to have access to broadband as compared to their urban counterparts.

Think back to when our world went virtual. This created a digital divide and a huge learning gap despite workplaces, schools, broadband suppliers and creative teachers trying to minimize the problem.

One study prior to the pandemic found that students with high-speed, home internet access have a half a letter grade higher GPA than those without.

Access or lack thereof influences education, health, economic development, civic engagement, quality of life and public safety just to name a few. Some say broadband is the “electricity of the 21st century.”

Thankfully there’s been initiatives to help change this and Virginia is in line to get hundreds of millions of dollars in addition to money in the state budget to put towards establishing broadband and the necessary infrastructure. The hope is for every home in Virginia to have access to affordable broadband within the next 2 or 2.5 years.