Telecom providers are complaining that financial incentives the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) offered them a year and a half ago to expand broadband service into rural Georgia aren’t working.
Middle Georgia EMC, which serves all or parts of seven counties, announced Tuesday it will invest $36.7 million with Kansas City-based Conexon Connect to bring high-speed Internet fiber to 100% of its members’ homes and businesses within two years. The first customers will be connected as early as the first quarter of next year.
Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled plans Friday to expand broadband access for thousands of Georgians in Middle Georgia, marking the latest move to boost high-speed internet in rural parts of the state.
Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) and telecom providers remain far apart on how to expand broadband connectivity in rural Georgia with time growing short for the state to decide a key component of the issue.
The EMCs want the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to nearly double what they can charge providers to attach broadband technology to their utility poles, from the current $20 per pole per year on average to $37.95, while the providers are calling for rates to be lowered to $7 per pole, the rate set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) are offering to accelerate the deployment of high-speed internet in rural Georgia through a deep discount to telecom providers for attachments to EMC utility poles.
Many rural households are struggling with access to health care and financial problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a national poll released Wednesday.
The poll of more than 500 adults living in rural areas found that one in four of these families said they had a member unable to get medical care for a serious problem during the pandemic. And most families with these access-to-care problems reported negative health effects as a result.
For some rural Georgia students, a heightened spread of COVID-19 combined with low internet availability could create disconnects that prevent them from doing online schoolwork.
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