A Rotary club in Denver, Colorado, USA helped expand the information highway to reach all the state’s kids

by Frank Bures

When it comes to global issues, access to high-speed internet might not seem to be a high priority. But when a community lacks internet access, its economy can suffer as residents deal with limited educational and employment opportunities.

In the United States, many people face high internet costs and low, erratic — or nonexistent — bandwidth. The Federal Communications Commission estimates that 18.3 million Americans — 5.6 percent of the population — lack access to high-speed internet. But a study by BroadbandNow Research, which looked at the FCC data in more detail, puts the number closer to 42 million people, or 13 percent of Americans. The issue is especially pronounced in rural areas: According to the FCC, 22 percent of rural Americans lack broadband internet at home, compared with only 1.5 percent of urban Americans.

“Internet access is essential for rural communities,” says Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Network Initiative, a program of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a research and advocacy organization. “In some ways it’s even more important than for cities. The two things that immediately come to mind are education and jobs,” he says. Homework options are limited without internet access in the home, he explains, “and employers are looking to put their jobs in places that have good internet access. Towns that have slow internet access are generally shrinking.”