Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ On Monday the County Commission buzzed about the status of rural high-speed internet availability in those difficult to reach areas of Rowan County where major cable providers (TWC/Charter Spectrum, Windstream, or AT&T U-verse) are not yet running either cable or fiber. In reality profit motivated cable or fiber companies don’t see any profit in running their services to areas where few houses exist or to unibomber cabins deep in the woods. Left out in Monday’s discussion was the fact that many folks dwelling far from neighbors is that most of those people have access to satellite internet. Satellite internet can be installed anywhere save for deeply forested areas and in those places cut off from the Southern horizon by mountains. You don’t want a silo blocking the Southern horizon either.
All the satellite internet providers in Rowan offer at least 10 Mbps and one Hughes.net can provide 15 Mbps. Due to “next generation” satellites being placed in orbit, speeds of 50 Mbps or more will be available from some satellite providers in the very near future. And just over the horizon long distance wireless relay points will provide gig speeds.
Because of 10 Mbps and 15 Mbps satellite internet availability in Rowan I doubt Rowan would qualify for a grant.
Here is a review of the current major satellite internet providers available in Rowan such as Hughes.net, Excede, Wild Blue, and Dish.net
http://www.bestsatelliteproviders.com/satellite-internet-providers/
