ICYMI - The Pilot: Federal Grant is Welcome News
September 16, 2020
Editorial: Federal Grant is Welcome News
The Pilot
Sept. 15, 2020
"The coronavirus has laid bare a number of critical needs, but those needs are not limited to public health alone.
Internet access — the great digital divide between "haves" and "have nots" — has risen to the forefront these past six months."
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"Indeed, if you look at a map showing census blocks where internet connectivity is poorest, there is a rather fat diagonal swath running through the heart of Moore County and spreading out along its western boundary with Montgomery County.
And so it was welcome news last week when U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, who represents many of those homes, announced federal money would be used to help connect several hundred folks to a modern broadband network.
A $3 million project will provide broadband internet service to 1,300 homes in rural Moore County."
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"This is not just about a faster computer or iPad so folks can have better access to Netflix. Kids who live out in these rural areas might one day might not have to drive to their school parking lot on weekends to access the Wi-Fi — or drive to a larger community to get reasonable free access.
And what about farmers, who can't do that? Farming is an increasingly sophisticated science that relies on internet access for crop management and operations. Connectivity will be important for these folks."
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"This grant program is a good example of our federal dollars coming home to help. We're glad to see it."
Read the entire editorial here.
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