Many people would think that a blog about a small rural town becoming a Gigabit city would be about the miracles of speed. But the real story is much deeper. It is about what it feels like to finally have internet choice, to have reliable internet service in an information dependent economy, to be treated with respect by customer service agents, and to finally feel hope - actual excitement -…
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Thanks to Wilson, Tiny Rural Pinetops is A Gigabit City
“We just love it!” That was the response of Pinetops Acting Town Manager, Brenda Harrell, when asked what it is like for her rural residents to now have access to Gigabit internet speeds. In April, Wilson, North Carolina’s community-owned fiber network reached out, passed every home and turned on its fiber to the home service in neighboring rural Pinetops. Pinetops is located about a…
read moreStanly County Feels NC’s Urban-Rural Broadband Divide
Rural Stanly County is an attractive place. But in terms of broadband, it is between a rock and a hard place. It sits between two soon-to-be Google Gigabit communities, with Charlotte to its west and Raleigh to its east, but as a rural county, it basically knows that Google is never coming their way. County officials worry that without Gigabit broadband, its young people and its businesses wil…
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