Agricultural News
OSU's Brian Whitacre Pushes to Have All of Oklahoma Under Broadband in Five Years
Fri, 06 May 2022 11:46:28 CDT
Farm Director, KC Sheperd sat down with OSU's Brian Whitacre at the Chickasha Field Day to visit about rural broadband spreading throughout Oklahoma.
"If you want broadband and can't get it, it is pretty frustrating," Whitacre said.
Broadband work is being done as we speak, Whitacre said. In fact, he added, Hilliary Communications is laying a fiber network in Chickasha right now.
"They are not going to reach too far out into the rural areas, unfortunately," Whitacre said. "The real money for the rural areas has not been distributed yet. We are still waiting for that to roll down from the ARPA funds from the infrastructure act."
Whitacre said we probably will not see the funding for broadband in deep rural areas until 2023, but when it does come, they will be aware of where that funding needs to be spent so it can be distributed quickly.
"We have a great program in Oklahoma," Whitacre said. "I am now partnering with 27 rural libraries that will loan out these hot spot devices that work off the cellular network and if you don't have an in-home connection, you can go get a hot spot, take it home with you it can connect your smartphone, your iPad, your desktop, laptop and all that kind of stuff."
This option, Whitacre said, is only available in some rural libraries. Another program, he added, is the Affordable Connectivity Program run by the FCC.
"We have some information on our website about it," Whitacre said. "It is really pretty straightforward. If you qualify, the eligibility requirements are if you make less than 200% of the federal poverty line, which for a family of four is about 55,000 to 56,000 dollars a year. If you are on Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, or any of those things, you are able to take advantage of this program."
Whitacre said the program gives those who qualify between 30 and 75 dollars to pay for their broadband bill. Almost every internet provider in the state is participating, so people can get a nice break on broadband every month, he added.
"They also will give you up to 100 dollars for a device," Whitacre said. "So, if you need a new iPad or a new laptop, check out this program."
Whitacre said they are moving forward at the state level and getting a state broadband office. That is going to be their resource as this moves forward, he added
"We don't have anyone officially hired yet, but we are in the process of getting that established and getting people hired where this is their full-time job," Whitacre said.
This will give people someone to reach out to if they have any questions about funding or need an update on broadband progress.
"This will be their full-time responsibility and hopefully once we have that state broadband up and running, that is a resource people can use to kind of check their own situation," Whitacre said. "There is money on the way for both availability of broadband and also to help people afford a monthly connection."
This is a huge improvement over where we were pre-covid, so we are still hopeful, Whitacre said, to make progress toward that 95 percent of having broadband in Oklahoma in 5 years, but we are still in the early days of that.
Click the LISTEN BAR below to hear KC's conversation with Brian Whitacre on rural broadband in Oklahoma.
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