Golden Triangle residents frustrated with the lack of broadband internet access in rural areas are banding together to put more pressure on 4-County Electric Power Association to offer the service.
The Golden Triangle Citizens for Broadband private Facebook group has more than 660 members since it began on Feb. 24, and the group will hold a public meeting on at 6:30 p.m. March 16 in Douglas Building III at the East Mississippi Community College campus in Mayhew.
“I feel like we can really grow this group to keep addressing this and giving information out that has to do with broadband,” said Steve Pyle, one of the Facebook group’s administrators and a former candidate for Lowndes County District 1 supervisor. “There’s so much that we’re missing out on.”
Mississippi Public Service Commissioner for the Northern District Brandon Presley will speak at the meeting. Local Realtors, home health providers, community leaders and representatives from 4-County will also be there, Pyle said.
4-County has been under pressure to provide rural broadband access since the state Legislature passed a law last year allowing electric cooperatives to provide internet service. The co-op issued a press release on Feb. 28 saying it conducted three feasibility studies and found that one broadband project could cost $110 million.
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) through the Federal Communications Commission will make $20 billion available for the efforts to expand broadband access nationwide. How much of this grant money 4-County can obtain will likely “make or break” a potential project for the co-op’s, spokesman Jon Turner said.
Rural areas of Lowndes, Oktibbeha and Clay counties are all part of 4-County’s service area.
4-County is already doing everything it can to meet the needs the group asks for, including applying for the grant, Turner said.
“We don’t see the need to be adversarial, and I get the feeling sometimes that’s what (the Facebook group) is about, trying to put undue pressure on us and not letting us work at our own pace,” Turner said.
Pyle was involved in the successful citizen-led effort for the Monroe County Electric Power Association to expand broadband access to rural areas, including Caledonia in northern Lowndes County where Pyle lives. One issue the Monroe County residents stressed was that children in rural areas need high-speed internet to do their homework, he said.
The same issue is at hand in rural Oktibbeha County, said Dennis Daniels, a former candidate for District 3 supervisor who made broadband access a priority in his three runs for office. Daniels connected with Pyle via Facebook on Tuesday and joined the group.
Additionally, a storm in early February blocked TV and internet signal from the Bell Schoolhouse community where Daniels lives with his family, and they were unaware that there was a tornado warning, he said.
“The only options out this way are satellite TV and satellite internet, and those are not very reliable, especially in bad weather,” he said.
Internet access is one of potential homebuyers’ top priorities, and they tend to avoid areas without it, said Colin Krieger, a Columbus Realtor who runs the Facebook group with Pyle and two others. The group’s goal is to make sure 4-County and local leaders understand the variety of quality-of-life issues involved in rural internet access, he said.
“We’re just trying to get some people to do a little yelling,” Krieger said. “Not in a bad way.”
Turner said 4-County is discussing potential solutions including partnerships with internet providers in case there is a feasible way to take on the financially risky investment of expansion, he said.
“We may not be the solution to rural broadband, but we want to be at least part of the solution,” Turner said.
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
