Reaching rural Iowa: Communities fight for better internet
1/3 of rural Americans live in areas without basic internet, study says
1/3 of rural Americans live in areas without basic internet, study says
1/3 of rural Americans live in areas without basic internet, study says
More than one-third of rural Americans are living in areas without basic internet service, according to a study from the University of Texas at Austin.
Rural communities like Carlisle could get lost in a world dominated by the worldwide web.
Attorney General Tom Miller said he was suing the Federal Communications Commission for doing away with net neutrality, adding that rural communities are already suffering and limiting service options and providers would only make things worse.
"The lines are so old here that they cannot provide us with anything faster," Carlisle resident Scott Wheeler said. "It's been a tough transition."
The Wheelers first got dial-up, and then they tried something else.
"Mobile hotspots, they can get expensive," Wheeler said.
So now, he's giving DISH a go.
"We have to kick everyone offline just so we can keep a sustainable connection," Wheeler said.
Wheeler is trying to finish up a new degree while raising three children in his century-old farmhouse.
He and his family are struggling to mix modern needs like shopping on Amazon with his children's homework assignments.
"So all their homework, their books are all on these computers now," Wheeler said.
He said he's paying three times the amount one would pay in the Des Moines metro for internet.
"Right now we have two satellite companies," Wheeler said.
So he can't be picky.
"None of those are what we'd call 21st-century broadband," said Curtis Dean, president of Smart Source Consulting. "We kind of have a passion for helping those communities now."
"They haven't made the broadband access the priority that it needs to be," said Todd Kielkopf, with Advisory Services.
Dean and Kielkopf are hoping to bring in more options for rural communities across the state.
"It goes way beyond interrupting your Netflix at night," Dean said.
They're looking to broker deals for private-public partnerships to help out people like Wheeler, who feel like they have no other option.
"For future generations coming in, it's really going to be tough with such an internet-powered world," Wheeler said.
For many rural Americans, their only choice for Wi-Fi, if they can afford it, is to head to a nearby library -- but out in the country, that can often be miles and miles away.