Some towns in US too have poor broadband, making life challenging in a near-lockdown
In Sandwich, New Hampshire, a town of just one 1,200 most widely known as a setting for the movie ‘On Golden Pond’, broadband is scarce. Forget streaming Netflix, significantly less working or studying from your home. Even the police department has trouble uploading its reports.
Julie Dolan, a 65-year-old retiree in Sandwich, has asthma. Her husband has high blood circulation pressure. Dolan doubts her substandard home internet could manage a remote medical appointment, and nowadays no one wants to visit the doctor if indeed they can help it. That leaves 19th-century technology -- her landline phone. "That's all I would have," she says.
As schools, workplaces and public services shut down in the age of coronavirus, online connections are keeping Americans in touch with vital institutions and one another. But that's not a lot of a choice when fast internet service is hard to come by.
Although efforts to extend broadband service have made progress in recent years, tens of millions of men and women are still overlooked, largely because phone and cable companies hesitate to purchase far-flung rural areas. Government subsidies in the billions haven't fully fixed the problem.
A lot more simply can't afford broadband. US broadband costs more than in lots of comparable countries - typically $58 a month in comparison to $46.55 across 29 nations, according to a 2018 Federal Communications Commission report.
Such disconnected persons "curently have to work harder to tread water," said Chris Mitchell, who advocates for community broadband service at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. "I don't believe persons appreciated the magnitude of the problem."
Even in cities, the high cost of access to the internet means many go without. Low-cost local alternatives such as libraries and cafes have turn off.
In St. Louis, Stella Ashcraft, 63, lives from cheque to cheque and can't afford internet. Her senior center, where she plays bingo, does puzzles and gets lunch five days weekly, is closed. So is her church and the library where she checks email. She's gotten texted photos of her newborn grandchild, but just forget about a Zoom call to see the baby.
"Personally i think very withdrawn, isolated, alone," she said.
There are no definitive numbers on those without broadband. The FCC puts the quantity at 21 million, but its data is faulty & most likely undercounts the problem. An unbiased group called BroadbandNow pegs it at 42 million. The digital divide disproportionately influences rural areas, African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans on tribal lands.
Phone and cable companies have pledged not to cut people off if indeed they can't settle payments and opened their Wi-Fi hotspots to the general public. Some are expanding low-cost programs for poor persons and lifting data caps so more people will get and stay connected.
Millions of Americans working from home are understanding how to use online video in place of face-to-face meetings, but that isn't an option for all those with only a trickle of data service.
Brie Morrissey, who owns a building outfitted with broadband in Dublin, New Hampshire, would like to keep social distance by working at home. But she keeps heading into the office for the connection, and as a result, is constantly cleaning the place -- wiping down door knobs, the toilet sinks and "every inch of the building," she says.
Morrissey avoids other tenants and won't rent space to anyone else. Most people get over the virus, but the elderly and the ones with underlying conditions will get seriously ill or die.
"I must tell people to remain home and that people can't accommodate them, that is a hard move to make for a small business owner in a small town," she said. "You obviously want to help. But following guidelines opportinity for the most part we can not."
Students, meanwhile, have a problem with a "homework gap" if they can't get or submit assignments, much less watch online lectures or participate in discussions. Online schoolwork is currently the norm, but the an incredible number of students who don't possess home internet or usage of computers in the home require creative solutions as schools shut down.
In rural western Alabama, significantly less than 1% of Perry County's roughly 9,100 residents have high-quality internet in the home, so online lessons are out. County teachers spent three days manually loading scanned images of math worksheets and other materials on to iPads and Chromebooks for the system's 1,100 students to take home while out of class, said Superintendent John Heard.
A FRESH York City family shelter does not have any Wi-Fi and 175 school-age children, only 15 of whom have laptops. City schools are sending some kids tablets equipped with online sites. But Estrella Montanez, who runs the shelter, worries that kids could have trouble managing remote work.
"Many families aren't so tech-savvy," she said.
Lawmakers want the federal government to send schools and libraries additional money to lend out Wi-Fi hotspots to students. But the FCC says it isn't authorized to do that under current law and is discussing a solution with Congress.
On Navajo Nation, the country's major Native American reservation, it's common to see people sitting in their vehicles at night outside municipality centers, fast-food restaurants and grocery stores to connect to Wi-Fi. Din College is lending laptops to students and asking internet providers to improve service.
Digital-access advocates hope that crisis propels the government to accomplish more to get people connected. Occasionally, relief was expected later this season. But that's too late to help with the existing crisis.
A cable company is meant to begin servicing Berkshires town Peru, Massachusetts, later this year. State Rep. Paul Mark has only satellite internet now, though, and it doesn't let him videoconference. Even Facebook video is a strain. And, like numerous others in his area, he also offers unreliable mobile service in the home. To greatly help his constituents, he must enter his car and drive around to get on calls and go on local TV and radio.
"It's a headache," he said during a recent phone interview from his car as he drove to the Boston statehouse. Then your line went dead.
