Although most of the nation’s rural counties lost population from 2010 to 2020, new Census data shows that rural counties with better broadband access tended to do better with population change than counties that lacked access. As more residents had access to broadband as defined by the Federal Communications Commission in 2011, the county population increased nine years later. Most counties did improve their broadband situation as the 2010s continued. Broadband access grew as the decade progressed for both kinds of counties – those that lost population and those that gained.  But the importance of broadband access only continued to increase. 

[Brian Whitacre is professor and Neustadt Chair in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University.  Roberto Gallardo is the director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development.]

As so many residential internet customers have needed to rely more heavily on their internet service provider to stay connected for work, school and entertainment, two-thirds (66%) of customer satisfaction is driven by the quality and speed of their internet connection and how the customer perceives the value of that connection, according to the JD Power 2021 US Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study. Verizon ranks highest in the East region with a score of 758 (on a 1,000-point scale), followed by Xfinity (725). AT&T ranks highest in the North Central region with a score of 732, followed by WOW! (730) and Xfinity (716). AT&T ranks highest in the South region with a score of 753, followed by Xfinity (740). Midcontinent ranks highest in the West region with a score of 754, followed by AT&T (728) and Xfinity (723).

“While overall satisfaction had been increasing since 2018, it has declined since last year, showing that as the necessity of internet service has increased, so have the expectations of customers,” said Ian Greenblatt, managing director at JDPower. 

In early 2019, AT&T announced it would phase out 3G wireless service in February 2022, meaning that devices designed to communicate using 3G technology would no longer have a connection after that date. Security systems companies were replacing the older gear when the pandemic lockdown began in March 2020. By early 2021, Covid-19 concerns had eased and people were more willing to let her workers into their homes. But then chip shortages hit the alarm industry, so replacement equipment became harder to come by. Covid and chip shortages have meant hassles and higher costs for businesses whose products and services depend on wireless technology, from emergency alert pendants and home medical devices to crash-prevention systems in cars and ankle bracelets that monitor felons. But the more critical concern is that if they cannot make equipment upgrades before the 3G sunset, some life safety and emergency alert services will stop working. In recent weeks, the Federal Communications Commission has received numerous filings expressing concern about the AT&T sunset plan, from businesses and from public interest advocates and groups representing rural communities and retirees. The FCC said it was “thoroughly investigating” the questions raised about AT&T’s sunset timetable, soliciting public comments and seeking further information from the carriers and others. A delay, AT&T says, would slow the nation’s move to 5G, a technology of the future. “The victims,” the company said, would be “tens of millions of ordinary customers.”

T-Mobile has made rural America a clear aim, with a push on brand recognition alongside deployments, retail stores, and initiatives like its Hometown Grant program. The company announced 25 small town winners that are part of its five-year commitment to provide $25 million in grants for community projects, alongside earlier stated plans to hire 7,500 new employees in small towns and rural areas. Winning projects span a range of community development initiatives, from renovating a town-owned home as a safe home for abused women and their children, revitalizing and creating a full-time performing arts center, creating and enhancing greenspaces like city parks, playgrounds and dog parks, completing a baseball complex, to converting an undeveloped city lot into an outdoor accessible classroom with public Wi-Fi. The project is in partnership with Main Street America and Smart Growth America. Winners are chosen and awarded on a quarterly basis and towns with populations of less than 50,000 are eligible to apply.

States that had winners include Alabama (Atmore and Wedowee), Arkansas (Clarksville), California (Mammoth Lakes), Illinois (Dixon), Indiana (Batesville), Idaho (Fruitland), Kansas (Fort Scott), Michigan (Lake Orion), Mississippi (Oxford), North Carolina (Laurinburg, Robersonville, and Boiling Springs), New Mexico (Raton), Ohio (Bowling Green), Oregon (Aumsville, Talent, and Toledo), Pennsylvania (Phoneixville, Pittston, and South Fayette Township), Tennessee (Erwin), Texas (Elgin), Utah (Helper City), and Washington (Moses Lake).

A group of over two dozen senators is urging President Joe Biden to designate Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel to a permanent position, making her the first woman to hold the office. The chairmanship of the commission has been in limbo since President Biden was sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2021, with Chairwoman Rosenworcel operating in acting capacity. Some of the group of Democratic Senators (and one Independent, Angus King of Maine) noted that they had voiced their support in a similar letter to Biden after he was declared winner of the 2020 election and said having a permanent chair is important, in light of Congressional efforts to provide funding for expanded broadband access nationwide as well as address the impacts of the 18+ month pandemic, part of the  “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021,” now being considered by the House. 

Singing the letter: Sens Joe Manchin (D-WV), Angus King (I-ME), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Jon Tester (D-MT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).