The rural community of Clark County, Washington, is not alone in its struggle with internet access. Residents across rural America face frequent outages and slow speeds that impact their daily lives, from running businesses to seeking medical care and making emergency calls. Rep.
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, who represents Washington’s Third Congressional District, understands the urgency of the issue firsthand. “I think I’m likely the only member of Congress that gets my internet from a radio tower,” she said. “In the Gorge, we have a lot of struggles with topography.”
Many residents commented on their difficulties running businesses from home or in rural areas.
Rob Sutton, a resident in the Venersborg area, initially had CenturyLink as his only option. “While it was reasonably priced, we had frequent outages and their customer service was horrible,” he stated. Sutton found a solution with Starlink, a satellite internet provider, but the monthly cost reaches $120.
Susan Mattson, an at-home business owner in Meadow Glade, has been without WiFi for an entire week, with the soonest technician visit scheduled for Aug. 22. Rob Townsen, a resident of the Dole Valley area, has experienced issues with CenturyLink for over 20 years.
“It has been a nightmare most of the time,” he commented.
rural areas cope with internet challenges
Residents also face poor customer service.
Shelley Long, a Battle Ground resident, spent over three hours on hold with CenturyLink during a recent outage. “It’s obvious to me they were having some kind of outage, but they wouldn’t admit to it. I was never given an actual solution,” she said.
Internet issues also impact education. One resident shared that their son had to travel to a library to take a necessary test for summer school when their internet went out. Gluesenkamp Perez worked with fellow lawmakers to reconsider what constitutes sufficient internet access through the Rural Internet Improvement Act, moving the standard from 10 megabits per second (mbps) to 25 mbps.
However, many residents still struggle to achieve these speeds. Nicole Kurkowski, a Battle Ground resident, pays for up to 15 mbps but recently recorded a download speed of just 1.04 mbps and an upload speed of 0.58 mbps. Some customers, like Rick and Pat Brown of Venersborg, are being dropped by their provider after years of loyal payments.
Gluesenkamp Perez believes competition in the internet provider market is crucial for rural Americans. “Rural Americans are at a distinct disadvantage in having competition in the marketplace for internet providers,” she said. “I think it’s only like 20 percent of rural Americans have access to more than one provider and that puts us in a very difficult position.”
As the issues surrounding rural internet access continue to plague residents and business owners, the need for better infrastructure and competitive market practices becomes increasingly urgent.
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