News

East Texas Advanced Communications Services, a business phone systems provider, has transitioned from relying on phone calls to conducting most of its business through email due to the increasing dependence on the internet. Like many other small business owners in rural East Texas, access to the internet has become essential for their operations.

Increasingly, business transactions are conducted online, with 28% of customer interactions happening online in 2023, up from just 9% in 2002. This shift is evident in the fact that 71% of businesses now have a website. However, rural areas in Texas still lack broadband internet access, with approximately 7 million Texans lacking high-speed internet connectivity.

Terry Rozell, the operations chief for Emergency Solutions, lives in a rural area near Dixie in Smith County and struggles with internet connectivity. He relies on video conferences for meetings but frequently experiences connection issues. Despite living near an area with high-speed internet access, the company that installed the service did not provide it to him, citing unavailability.

In another rural area, Cindy and Randy Gann of East Texas Advanced Communications Services had to explore various internet options until they finally contacted AT&T for a fiber-optic line installation. While the service has met their needs, it comes at a high cost, with a two-year contract of 3 per month.

The challenges in expanding broadband access in rural areas are primarily due to the high cost of building fiber-optic networks and the lack of return on investment for internet service providers. Smaller communities have fewer potential customers, making it economically challenging to develop extensive infrastructure. Additionally, the lack of competition allows internet providers to set their own rates, further widening the digital divide.

Efforts to bridge this digital divide involve building fiber-optic networks, which offer better reliability and faster speeds. However, the focus on affordability remains crucial to ensure that rural areas have access to internet services they can afford. The federal government provides funding to support these expansion efforts, but more initiatives are needed to ensure broadband access reaches every corner of East Texas.

The post Expanding Broadband Access in Rural East Texas appeared first on satProviders.