In some rural areas, including in Georgia, residents and businesses lack quality internet access. As technology continues to develop, it is becoming increasingly needed by people. Lack of access to high–speed internet in a world that revolves around technology leads to not being able to provide quality education and prohibits development in the economy and telemedicine for many people in rural Georgia.
Providing high speed internet to these rural areas is not very easy, especially considering the cost of extending facilities into these areas, which have low customer density. Yet electric cooperatives in Georgia are working with willing cable operators and telephone cooperatives to seek available funding for rural broadband. Electric cooperatives have taken significant action since governor Brain Kemp signed Senate Bill 2 in 2019, which gives electric membership corporations the ability to provide broadband services to rural areas without internet access.
Stay tuned to AHC’s Cooperative Law Blog for more developments on rural broadband in Georgia and around the nation.
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