At the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association’s Annual Policy Meeting, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, had the chance to talk with the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Broadband Authority, Mike Sanders, about improving access to rural broadband in Oklahoma.
“When I first walked in on day one at the Oklahoma Broadband Office, we didn’t even have high-speed internet,” Sanders said. “I say that jokingly now because where we were and where we are is a 180-degree difference.”
After decades of rural Oklahomans being underserved and unserved, Sanders said, with the help of a tremendous board at the Oklahoma Broadband Office, policies and procedures have been set in place to make a difference in rural Oklahoma.
“Being a formal rural legislator, I knew intimately the issues and challenges that rural Oklahoma sometimes is up against,” Sanders said. “I will tell you in our last nine months of putting in the policies and administering all of this federal money, we are going to have some very good news coming very soon.”
Sanders said there are nearly 600,000 Oklahomans who do not have high-speed internet.
“That must change and that will change, because we have the right people and the right policies in place to make sure we make that change here for Oklahoma, and I am excited to be a part of that,” Sanders said.
This past summer, Sanders said over 30 listening sessions were held by the broadband office to receive input from Oklahomans across the state about their broadband needs.
“We took their information, and we put that into our plan that we are going to be implementing the rollout of our broadband deployment,” Sanders said.
Sanders said serving each and every last Oklahoman means a great impact will be had on the entire state.
“What that means to Oklahomans is one, you have that grandmother who lives out in the country, and her grandkids may live in an entirely different state,” Sanders said. “She is going to be able to interact and have face-to-face contact with them.”
Economic development will be another benefit of serving Oklahomans in need of high-speed internet, Sanders said, because rural communities need that connection to grow and do business in today’s world.
“You have got to be able to be connected,” Sanders said. “You have got to be able to get your goods to market, you have got to be able to check the weather, and you have got to have real-time, agricultural data. I could go on and on and on.”
Sanders said a healthy rural Oklahoma means an absolutely healthy urban Oklahoma.
“This is not a rural versus urban situation,” Sanders said. “This is an Oklahoma situation where everyone is going to benefit, especially rural Oklahoma.”
