Community, Broadband, & Statistics

Autumn is coming quickly in Beverly and the weather is getting cooler. The gears shift towards Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations. The end of my second month in Kentucky is quickly approaching and I have continued to grow in my understanding of the culture and the hardships this area faces. One thing I have been consistently reminded of is there is no “quick fix” for generational poverty, drug addiction, and marginalization.

The month of September has been a busy one with many ideas slowly becoming reality in the coming weeks. I have been working on distributing American Connection Program (ACP) information, creating a miniature library to bring books into the community, and collecting surveys. The surveys were created with the intention to collect data regarding individuals’ experiences with both internet and cellphone carriers. With 100 surveys completed, they have proven to be a very useful data point for my work and where work needs to be done.

The results highlight how great the disconnect between the needs of the customers and the services of the providers is. The graph below provides insight into the number of people, out of 100, who are ‘unsatisfied’ or ‘very unsatisfied' with their current internet speed and performance. One thing to note is the number of ‘neutral’ responses is due to people not having internet at all since N/A was not an option on this survey.

The reasons for 44% of respondents being ‘unsatisfied’ or ‘very unsatisfied’ were fueled by a lack of availability, affordability, access, and coverage. Affordability made up 51% of responses when asked what was preventing the individual from getting better or even internet access. 20% of survey participants had no internet access at all, with many citing the prohibitive nature of cost with marginal benefit. A major issue in this area is the limited number of providers (ISPs) – many areas are limited to one – which puts the customers at a disadvantage. The costs of access continue to increase ranging from $50 to $130 per month depending on the company and package. The cost rises, but the quality does not simultaneously rise with it. The situation should be more of a ‘high tides raise all boats' rather than a benefit to the company over the customer.

Working to achieve the goal of establishing affordable internet, preventing monopolies in districts, and getting voices heard is not something that can be done quickly. Solutions take investments of time, energy, and connections. My main focus is on raising awareness of Red Bird Mission’s needs in terms of broadband and reliability.

Services such as education, telehealth, and therapy are hindered or completely stalled by a lack of reliable internet access. In the past year, the school has lost internet connection over 80 times- which results in the school having to be closed for the day due to the inability to call for emergency vehicles if a situation arose. The constant school closures limit education and resources available to students and teachers putting them at a disadvantage.

Telehealth is not a feasible option at this point due to the poor service throughout the Red Bird service area – leaving many elderly or disabled people reliant on relatives and friends to drive them to doctor’s appointments rather than from their own homes. Red Bird has the facilities and the therapist to host virtual therapy appointments, but due to the unreliable and inconsistent nature of both the internet and electricity legally they cannot open the services to the public. The inability to call emergency services if an individual is at risk for harming themselves keeps the virtual therapy program from getting off the ground. Red Bird Mission has many programs constantly relied upon by the community but without consistent, reliable service, these programs are handicapped and unable to be employed.

The Red Bird service area is full of need but also a rich kindness and desire to help one another. From the antidotal perspective seeing the kindness from a close-knit community helped me get acclimated to a culture that was originally foreign to me. A kind older gentleman gave me a pumpkin this past week after I mentioned loving pumpkins, which was a kind and thoughtful gift that made my month. Unfortunately, he is currently in the hospital suffering from heart problems so prayers would be appreciated for him. Seeing how quickly the people in this area have become important to me speaks bounds to the type of people they are. The area is not without its struggles, but by helping improve their quality of life via affordable, reliable broadband infrastructure they can be one step closer to individual independence, accessible health, and wellness resources, and maintaining connections with the surrounding world.

Seeing the volume of limitations this area faces can be disheartening at times, but change is gradually coming. Companies are interested in putting fiber optic cable in, and others looking to see how they can improve the lives of those in hard-to-reach areas. Grants are becoming available to be utilized by companies and individual agencies. A digital literacy class for seniors will begin next week- and I will be facilitating it- allowing more people digital independence. The hope is the small steps taken during this fellowship will lead to more change and development in the long term. To getting things done!