Rural Broadband Success for Alturas, California

RippleNW.org is reporting success for Alturas California in rural broadband deployment. The entire article is here.

“Here’s what you can learn from Alturas and Modoc County as you pursue broadband access and work to expand internet marketing in your area.

Ask loudly for rural broadband access and you shall receive!

Frontier Communications, the local internet service provider (ISP), is stringing fiber all over Modoc County at their own expense! Cathy publicly thanked Frontier for these efforts.

Why, you might ask are they doing that, and what can you learn from it?

Frontier didn’t want to apply for the federal dollars, according to Cathy, because of the complex reporting requirements. She also stressed that DEMAND is driving this effort.

Frontier’s capacity is maxed. They haven’t been able to offer new DSL connections for months, and other nearby internet service providers are going to start coming into their territory if they don’t act.

Frontier enjoys its position as a rural service provider that locals can depend on, and they’re stringing fiber to prove it. Alturas and surrounding communities will see their speeds increase by three times for no extra cost, and more DSL connections will follow.

The lesson is, use the internet capacity you already have and demand more.

Get your county government, city government, chambers of commerce, business groups, rural economic development groups, schools and healthcare centers in conversations with your local ISP to show them there is demand. There is still federal rural broadband money, or your ISP might just decide, like Frontier, that going it alone will be easier and more profitable.”

Another success story about rural broadband here