Rural Broadband Fiber Optic Cable

AJC, 5/13/18 page B-1 article “Rural broadband, Votgle top PSC race”. This article says nothing about Rural broadband, but goes on to list the PSC candidates running in the May 22 Primary.

If you google rural broadband in Georgia you get a map that lists broadband availability by AT&T, Charter, HughesNet, MegaPath, Skycasters and Sprint available in North Georgia but not much in South Georgia.

http://digital.georgia.gov/map/

A program is now in place to bring fast Internet to hard-to-reach rural communities in Georgia. Now, lawmakers just have to fight about the money.

Both chambers passed state Sen. Steve Gooch's Achieving Connectivity Everywhere Act last week, creating a grant program to fund broadband expansion. But the bill, which will go to Gov. Nathan Deal's desk, does not guarantee funding. Instead, it creates a source for added revenue — with a stated desire that lawmakers invest the money into rural counties.

The bill allows private companies to build fiber optic lines along Georgia's 1,247 miles of interstate. The Georgia Department of Transportation will award contracts for this work. The winning companies, in turn, will make money leasing fiber access to Internet providers.

http://www.govtech.com/network/Georgias-Rural-Broadband-Program-Still-Lacks-Funding.html

Adding high speed internet broadband requires installing fiber optic cable. I got a call last year from Earthlink, my internet provider asking if I wanted high speed internet. When I found out that it required running fiber optic cable to my house I declined their offer.

I understand why companies in South Georgia want to get fiber optic cable and high speed internet. I also understand why the companies that lease fiber optic cable want tax subsidies.

This is a lot like rural Georgia’s hospital problem. They don’t have a large enough population to support hospitals or high speed internet.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader