The commissioners of Lancaster County proposed an expansion of broadband infrastructure into rural communities of the Lancaster area. This is supposed to take place within the next year.
One may wonder, what is broadband infrastructure? It has multiple definitions: the infrastructure itself (pipes) to deliver internet to users, high speed access to the internet, or the services/applications that come with it. Due to differences in different places’ needs, the definition of broadband varies. In simple terms, it’s widely known as wide bandwidth data transmission, which instantly transports internet signals from one place to another.
The people in Lancaster County who live in rural towns lack this kind of internet access, and our commissioners plan to fix this.
According to the Journal Star, it’s a $12 million project, “using federal stimulus money that would install the same broadband infrastructure Lincoln has– lines of underground conduit that carriers can lease to bring wireless service to rural communities.”
What this means is rural towns all across Lancaster County should gain high speed, wireless internet, putting them on the same bandwidth as cities such as Lincoln and Omaha.
Access to high speed internet is very important for several reasons. First of all, it’s a lot more reliable. Multiple statistics show that unreliable internet is highly discouraged in today’s businesses, as most of our files are online.
Second, it makes it easier to work from home. Many people who live in rural communities have to make long commutes to and from work every day. However, with fast, reliable internet, parents who lead busy lives and don’t have time to drive for hours may work from their homes. Inadvertently, this also saves gas money because of less driving. Lastly, as one can infer, faster internet speeds means faster and better productivity, helping all businesses in the area, even if its workers don’t live in the city.
It should be hoped by all that this project can expand through more rural communities in Nebraska besides Lancaster County, leading our Nebraskan community into a better and online future.