May 4th, 2020 by WCBC Radio
With Continuity of Learning, a remote study program, being utilized by school systems- the need for quality, affordable internet service is perhaps more important than ever for Allegany County. To slow the spread of the Coronavirus, COVID-19, all Maryland public schools closed in mid-March. Under guidance from the state education department, the local school system began providing remote instruction for students, as well as learning packets for pupils without access to the internet. During the most recent meeting of the Allegany County Board of Education, Board member Bob Farrell said that he and fellow board members have had productive conservations in the subject with Maryland’s Congressional delegation…
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May 04, 2020 at 9:39 am, mac said:
This project, to expand high speed internet, has been in the works for years now without any positive outcome. These difficult times have shown how necessary it is in the year 2020. There has been a lot of lip service paid to making improvements in speed and price but as this crisis passes in the coming months so will the focus on building out service improvements.
The powers that be will move on to the next shiny object to grab the attention and photo ops.
May 04, 2020 at 10:40 am, Jay said:
i agree Mac. The federal and state administrations should set a goal of having broadband in every home by a date certain. It should be a big part of the so-called nationwide infrastructure rebuild that has been talked about. It would also create thousands of jobs nationwide. There are about 50 millions students in the US and an estimated 10-12 million have no broadband access. Makes it tough for distance learning which will be even more prevalent no matter if the virus is mitigated or not.
May 04, 2020 at 11:58 am, Ken said:
One of the main hold backs in any project like this is the incumbents.
Years ago, the FCC pretty much handed the Internet to companies who deliver information services. Even though public approval for municipal services runs high, whenever any kind of network is proposed they are largely attacked by the companies who feel their territory is being invaded.
On the other side of the argument is the reality that for profit companies have no motivation to build networks into areas that can never be profitable. So, they want subsidies to build into there areas and not too many of us want to pay for that.
This leaves many Americans between a rock and a hard place, as they say.
Elon Musk has been putting low earth orbit satellites in space that will deliver much better service than the current crop of satellite internet but that’s at least a year or more off before the service goes public.
May 04, 2020 at 2:19 pm, mac said:
> I will be interested to hear how Musk’s satellite internet works but if you have ever had satellite TV (as in Dish) you know that service is spotty during inclement weather, dense clouds and storms. I’m not saying no, I’m saying I’ll wait and see.