Rural Internet cost forces family of six to ration

The couple moved from Loudoun (VA) to Fauquier (VA) 15 years ago because they liked this county’s rural lifestyle and wanted a small-scale public school system for their children. The importance of broadband access never occurred to Jerry and Sandy Harris when they built their four-bedroom home on Beach Road south of Warrenton (VA).

The family pays $475 per month for Internet, television and phone services – almost double its $239 Dominion Virginia Power electric bill for July. Harris said her father, who lives in Fairfax County, pays $90 per month for essentially the same communications services. “It kills me,” she said. The family pays $100 per month for home Internet service through Verizon. It helps to ration her kids’ internet use, said Mrs. Harris, who affectionately calls them “data gobblers.” “They have to earn their gigabytes,” she said. “They have chores to do – dishes, grass, dogs.”