Internet Access Expansion Brings Economic Hope to Rural Communities
For many, we are living in a golden digital age. For those with access to high-speed internet, just about everything is easier and more convenient. However, not everyone has equal access to the internet, leaving people with unequal opportunities. As internet access expands to include communities previously left out, new opportunities open up to those communities.
The internet is making many aspects of our lives much easier and more convenient. Everything from work and entertaining to dating and shopping is made simple and easier with high-speed internet. But there are large swathes of the world that do not have access to high-speed internet or the benefits that it brings. Rural communities all over the world, even in the United States, lack the infrastructure that makes high-speed internet possible.
Happily, for West Virginia, the number of rural communities without access to high-speed internet and the economic and social benefits that it can provide is shrinking. As recent investments in internet infrastructure are beginning to pay dividends for rural residents in West Virginia.
Access Provided to Rural Communities
Like many more rural areas of the United States, West Virginia has terrain and a population that does not lend itself to being easily provided with internet infrastructure. West Virginia, in particular, is considered one of the worst provided for states in terms of access to high-speed internet. With more complaints about internet access than any other state, and thousands still left out of the loop of access to the opportunities the internet can provide.
There is good news for residents of West Virginia, however. Local initiatives and programs like the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program have combined to speed up the rollout of high-speed internet to Virginians. Many remote areas are now receiving infrastructure upgrades of fiber-optic cable placement, designed to offer residents access to a more equal opportunity online. These upgrades are allowing West Virginians to enjoy better entertainment, better telehealth services, more access to education and opportunities for employment.
Digital Entertainment and Gaming Offer Exciting New Pastimes
One thing that the internet is famously used for is entertainment. With high-speed internet options, rural communities in West Virginia are able to use the internet for streaming movies and shows, playing games and even for gambling. Thanks to internet access, online casino platforms that offer a no deposit bonus are just as valid options for entertainment in West Virginia now as lake fishing has been since the dawn of time. Being able to access online gambling and gaming allows residents of rural communities in West Virginia to plug into a global network of gaming that was previously not feasible for many.
For some, the ability to connect to this global network of gamers provides a legitimate avenue for a career. Long gone are the days when online gaming was ‘only for kids’, today esports is a huge industry, and one that is only growing bigger. By allowing rural residents of West Virginia to enter the global gaming community, better internet access is allowing those residents the possibility of joining esports leagues and attempting to snag a piece of some prize pools.
Greater Connectivity Allows for a Stronger Economy
While some mourn the earlier days of the internet, where everything was chaos and mostly existed only for the sake of existing, the reality of much of the internet now is for business. This is great news for small businesses across rural West Virginia, because as they get more reliable access to high-speed internet, e-commerce and the possibilities inherent in engaging in it become possible for them.
Apart from local businesses being able to sell products and advertise on a much wider scale, individuals can benefit from the global internet economy as well. By finding remote work opportunities and turning hobbies into side-hustles, individuals in rural West Virginia can now make use of the economic possibilities of improved internet access.
Another way that expanded access to the internet can economically benefit rural West Virginian communities might surprise you. By providing more visibility to communities’ needs and strengths, local governments are able to attract investment from far outside the community in order to expand infrastructure or leverage local resources that are currently not being utilised fully.
Remote Learning Leads to Economic Empowerment
One thing that many residents of rural areas have bemoaned for decades is the lack of access to higher education. With improved access to high-speed internet services, access to the playing field of higher education is levelled, and all can enjoy the benefits. Truly, the only thing standing between anyone in a rural community and acquiring a higher education is their own desire.
Digital learning platforms and remote education are designed to be flexible and take into account all sorts of different lifestyles and levels of commitment. Access to education in this way can allow for rural residents to up-skill effectively while continuing to earn a living and providing for their family, eventually being able to acquire more lucrative work.
The World is Closer Together Than Ever Before, Even in Rural Communities
As we pass the quarter-way mark of the 21st century, it has become clear that many industries and ways of life will be tied inexorably to the internet and its usage. With the rollout of high-speed internet finally allowing most rural communities in West Virginia and elsewhere in the U.S. to join this global interconnected world, those communities and the individuals that live in them will no longer be at a disadvantage in the digital modern world.
While not all communities are currently fully served with high-speed connections, those connections are coming quickly, and those communities will soon be on an equal footing with the rest of America. As the playing field is levelled, West Virginians can seize the new digital day.
