The population of the state of West Virginia has declined 3.3 percent over the past decade – a greater exodus than any other state in the nation – in part because of the lack of the Internet.

“If you look at the broadband cards, it’s no surprise that our most rural, coal-affected communities often have the poorest internet service,” says Natalie Roper, Broadband Coordinator for Generation West Virginia, a state organization that aims to attract and retain young people. residents of West Virginia. “It limits our opportunities to diversify these economies and limits conversations about additional industries that can thrive in these parts of the state. Too many people feel they have to leave the state to access economic opportunities and find good jobs. “

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

The pandemic has also made connectivity more important than ever. To limit the spread of COVID-19, children have attended schools virtually, remote working has become commonplace in many industries, and telehealth has taken off. To do things like buy groceries, go to church, or see a therapist in the midst of a pandemic, people have turned to the internet. But in West Virginia, internet speeds actually got slower during the pandemic due to increased demand, download speeds fell 17%.

While federal funding for broadband is available, “it’s really hard for these communities to go after that funding,” says Roper. “Federal grants are complex, technical, and require a lot of local capacity. That’s why Generation West Virginia, in partnership with the Benedum Foundation and a statewide initiative with the Office of Broadband of the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, is working hard to bring broadband to the public. rural areas that need it. They are currently working on a 3-year plan, targeting 18 outlying counties in the state to help communities secure funding and streamline the process of installing broadband, one kilometer of cable at a time.

Beyond West Virginia, the pandemic has marked a widespread reversal trend for rural districts across the country: People left the cities en masse, bringing distant jobs to more distant cities. This change could help revitalize rural communities, provided they have reliable and affordable internet. This infrastructure would allow these communities to deploy clean energy projects, remote businesses and other forms of infrastructure that can make them even more attractive places to more people.

Bridging the digital divide

The great chasm between those who have access to the Internet and computers and those who do not is called the digital divide. According to The latest report of the Federal Communications Commission, 14.5 million Americans still do not have access to Internet service at the current standard: download speeds of 25 megabits per second and download speeds of 3 megabits per second. (Slower services, such as dial-up access or cellular access points, cannot transmit data as quickly as fiber-optic cables can.)

The good news is that the gap is narrowing. The gap between urban and rural Americans with access to broadband service has narrowed by nearly 50% since 2016, according to the FCC.

The recently past IThe infrastructure package promises to spend $ 65 billion in providing affordable high-speed Internet access to all Americans. And last year, Congress approved $ 7 billion in funding for broadband distribution as part of a 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 expansion of broadband internet across the state, comparing it to rural electrification in the 1930s.

“We have a legacy of doing this work in America. We used to say, “We’re going to have a national commitment to make sure everyone has access to the basic things they need,” and now in 2021 it’s broadband, “Harris said. .

Achieve digital equity

Even with high-speed internet access, accessibility is often a challenge: Pew Research Center found, in 2021, that financial problems were the biggest barrier to adopting broadband services, with 45% of people without broadband at home citing the high cost of a subscription.

Take North Carolina, for example. It is estimated that 1.1 million homes in the state do not have high-speed Internet in their homes. Of these, about a third do not have broadband access, while the rest may have access but cannot afford it or do not subscribe. There is also a racial divide. In North Carolina, 76% of white households subscribe to the Internet; Latino households are 68% subscribed; 64% black; and Native Americans at 57 percent.

“It’s good if I can install a fiber optic line near you, but if you can’t afford it, or you don’t have a laptop or you don’t have the skills digital, this fiber optic line is useless. over to you, ”said Nate Denny, assistant secretary for broadband and digital equity in the North Carolina Department of Information Technology. “We knew this was a problem before we fell into a global pandemic, but COVID really brought it home. “

North Carolina is working hard to implement what’s known as digital equity, the idea that everyone has equal and affordable access to the information technology they need to function in society. In May, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced plans to invest $ 1.2 billion in US stimulus funds to connect 98% of North Carolina households to high internet infrastructure. debit by 2025. The state will also provide grants of $ 50 per month for qualifying lowlands. high-income households so that at least 80 percent of North Carolina households can subscribe to broadband service.

“Broadband services are essential to everything we do today. It is an absolutely essential tool for economic development, education and telemedicine, ”says Denny. “But it’s not just the Internet package. It is also about tackling this element of affordability and digital literacy, focusing on the ability of the end user to take advantage of this service once it is in place.

Connectivity opens doors

Beginning around 2013, coal mines began closing in Colorado’s North Fork Valley, a collection of small pastoral towns along the state’s western slope. More than a thousand people lost their jobs and the population of the towns of Delta and Montrose was declining by about 1.5% per year while the population of the state as a whole was growing by 4.8% per year. . And unemployment numbers in those cities were 61% higher than elsewhere in Colorado.

“Even before the coal shutdown, we were working with our communities to determine what the biggest barriers to economic development in our region were, and broadband seemed to be one of the biggest barriers,” said Michelle Haynes, Executive Director of Region 10, a county and local government-backed nonprofit organization that aims to build strong communities in six counties in western Colorado. “Businesses were leaving the region due to a lack of broadband. “

In Gunnison County, there was no backup system, so when internet service went down, emergency dispatch services shut down, gas stations and banking systems went offline.

Region 10 started implementing a broadband plan around 2015, and they are now around 80-90% thanks to that original plan, with the help of government funding and various partners, including the Delta Montrose Electric Association, which has donated over $ 2 million in assets. and a long-term capital lease on a fiber optic cable. Most homes in the area now have high speed access that people can afford.

A local startup, called Lightworks Fiber, has started winning contracts from the local electric co-op to expand broadband cable, and they’ve created over 100 jobs, including hiring many laid-off miners, to help build. these cables.

Seven years after the start of the broadband project, things are starting to improve in the region. During the pandemic, cities like Montrose were able to attract remote workers seeking to move out of the city and also retain current residents who were able to access jobs remotely.

“We’re starting to see a recovery,” says Haynes. “Usually being in a rural area during a recession isn’t great. But during the pandemic, we saw people entering our communities and more people working remotely. We have had a change in house prices, a change in jobs. We are always looking for ways to diversify our economy and ways to create a more sustainable and diverse economy. But broadband created a lot of that fairness to make that happen. “

The mission of the Just Transition Fund is to create economic opportunities for the frontline communities and workers hardest hit by the transition to charcoal. The JTF is guided by a belief in the power of communities, supporting locally driven solutions and helping to raise the voice of transition leaders.