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The population of West Virginia has fallen by 3.3% in the past ten years—larger than any other state in the country—in part because of the lack of internet.

"If you look at the broadband map, you will find that our most rural and coal-affected communities tend to have the worst Internet services," said Natalie Roper, Broadband Coordinator of Generation West Virginia. This is a project designed to attract and retain young people. People’s state organization. Residents of West Virginia. "This limits our opportunities to diversify these economies and limits discussions about which other industries can thrive in these areas of the state. Too many people feel that they have to leave the state to get economic opportunities and find good jobs."

As the coal industry in West Virginia continues to decline, new economic sectors are pouring in to fill the gaps, such as clean energy and information technology. But these sectors depend on good Internet access. 

The pandemic also makes connectivity more important than ever. In order to limit the spread of COVID-19, children go to school in a virtual way, remote work has become commonplace in many industries, and telemedicine has also begun to rise. During the pandemic, people turned to the Internet in order to do things such as shopping for groceries, going to church or seeing a therapist. But in West Virginia, Internet speeds actually slowed down during the pandemic due to increased demand—download speeds dropped by 17%.

Although federal broadband funding is available, "it is really challenging for these communities to get this funding," Roper said. "Federal grants are complex, technical, and require a lot of local capacity." This is why Generation West Virginia, in collaboration with the Benedum Foundation, and a statewide initiative with the Broadband Office of the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, is working hard to provide broadband Provide broadband services in rural areas. They are currently developing a three-year plan with the goal of 18 remote counties across the state to help communities obtain funding and simplify the broadband installation process—one mile of cable at a time.

Outside of West Virginia, the epidemic marks a general reversal in rural areas across the country: people leave cities in droves, bringing jobs in remote areas to further towns. As long as rural communities have a reliable and affordable Internet, this shift can help revitalize rural communities. This infrastructure will enable these communities to deploy clean energy projects, remote businesses, and other forms of infrastructure, making them more attractive places for more people to live in.

The huge gap between those who can access the Internet and computers and those who cannot access the Internet and computers is the so-called digital divide. According to the latest report from the Federal Communications Commission, 14.5 million Americans still cannot use the current standard Internet services: download speeds are 25 megabits per second and upload speeds are 3 megabits per second. (Slower services, such as dial-up or cellular hotspots, cannot transmit data as fast as fiber optic cables.) 

The good news is that the differences are narrowing. According to data from the US Federal Communications Commission, since 2016, the gap between urban and rural access to broadband services in the US has narrowed by nearly 50%.

The recently adopted infrastructure package promises to invest $65 billion to provide affordable high-speed Internet to all Americans. Last year, Congress approved $7 billion in broadband allocation funds as part of the COVID-19 relief plan.

Earlier this year, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the headquarters of the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative in Plymouth, New Hampshire, to discuss the statewide expansion of high-speed broadband Internet, comparing it to rural electrification in the 1930s.

"We have a tradition of doing this in the United States. Harris said: "We will have a national commitment to ensure that everyone has access to the basic things they need." It's 2021, and this is broadband. 

Even if broadband Internet is available, affordability is often a challenge: in 2021, the Pew Research Center found that financial issues are the main obstacle to the adoption of broadband services, and 45% of people do not have broadband at home because of subscription.

Take North Carolina as an example. It is estimated that 1.1 million families in the state do not have high-speed internet at their homes. Among them, about one-third of people cannot use broadband, while the rest may be able to use it but can't afford it or don't have a subscription. There are also racial divides. In North Carolina, 76% of white households subscribed to the Internet; Latino households had a subscription rate of 68%; black households had a subscription rate of 64%; and Native Americans accounted for 57%.

"It would be great if I could lay a fiber optic line near your home, but if you can't afford it, or if you don't have a laptop, or you don't have digital skills, that fiber optic line is useless for you," Said Nate Denny, deputy secretary of broadband and digital equity in the North Carolina Department of Information Technology. “We knew this was a problem before we were caught in a global pandemic, but COVID did bring it home.”

North Carolina is working hard to implement so-called digital equity, that is, everyone has equal and affordable access to the information technology they need to function in society. In May of this year, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced plans to invest US$1.2 billion in the American Recovery Plan Fund to connect 98% of North Carolina homes to high-speed Internet infrastructure by 2025. The state will also provide a subsidy of $50 a month for eligible low-income families. Income households so that at least 80% of North Carolina households can subscribe to broadband services.

"Broadband services are critical to everything we do today. It is an absolutely critical tool for economic development, education and telemedicine," Danny said. "But it's not just an Internet plan. It also addresses the affordability and digital literacy factors, focusing on the end user's ability to use the service once they enter it." 

Starting around 2013, the coal mines in North Fork Valley, Colorado, began to close. North Fork Valley is a collection of rural towns along the western slope of the state. More than a thousand people have lost their jobs, and the population of Delta and Montrose is declining—about 1.5% per year. At the same time, the population of the entire state is growing by 4.8% per year. Compared with other parts of Colorado, the unemployment rate in these towns is 61% higher.

"Even before the coal production was discontinued, we were working with communities to identify the biggest obstacles to economic development in our region, and broadband was one of the biggest obstacles," said Michelle Haynes, Executive Director of District 10. ) Say. A non-profit organization supported by local and county governments, aiming to build strong communities in six counties in western Colorado. "Businesses are leaving the area due to lack of broadband."

In Gunnison County, there is no backup system, so when Internet services are interrupted, emergency dispatch services will be shut down and gas stations and banking systems will be offline. 

District 10 began implementing broadband plans around 2015. With the help of government funds and various partners (including the Delta Montrose Electric Association, which donated assets worth more than US$2 million), they have now completed approximately 80% to 90% % Of the original plan and long-term capital lease of fiber optic cable. Most houses in the area now have affordable broadband access. 

A local start-up company called Lightworks Fiber began to win a contract from a local power cooperative to expand broadband cables. They created more than 100 jobs, including hiring many laid-off miners to help build these cables. 

Now that the broadband project has been implemented for seven years, the situation in the area has begun to improve. During a pandemic, towns like Montrose can attract remote workers who want to leave the city and retain existing residents who can get remote work.

"We are starting to see a recovery," Haynes said. “Usually, it’s not good to stay in rural areas during economic downturns. But during the pandemic, we see people entering our communities and more people working remotely. Our housing prices have changed, and jobs have changed. We are still looking for ways to diversify our economy, and to find ways to make the economy more sustainable and diversified. But broadband has created a lot of such fairness and made it possible."

The mission of the Just Transition Fund is to create economic opportunities for the frontline communities and workers most affected by the coal transition. Guided by its belief in community power, JTF supports locally-led solutions and helps raise the voice of transformation leaders.

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