Editor’s Notes: On the far side of the digital divide
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Did Wednesday's Optimum internet outage leave you scrambling or maybe a little lost? How about the Microsoft outage Thursday? Here in the newsroom, the realization that our internet access was down ... and staying down ... turned into something resembling that scene from season three of "Community" where Troy returns from picking up pizza to find a room full of chaos.
Just about everything we do relies on internet access. Losing it meant getting creative (and scattering) pretty quickly.
But thanks to access through other service providers -- and competent, cooperative coworkers at a couple of our sister papers -- we were able to get our job done.
That was possible in Vienna, Parkersburg and Belpre.
But what if we were trying to provide news (and real-time updates) from somewhere else?
Despite years of talking about it, there is STILL no accessibility to wired or fixed wireless broadband internet for more than 20% of West Virginians.
According to broadbandnow.com, those residents are unable to purchase an internet plan that would get them at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. But even among those who live in areas where such service exists, there is still the matter of affordability. The site says 31.2% of Mountain State residents are not able to purchase broadband access for $60 a month or less.
When we get to fiber-optic service, broadbandnow.com says a mere 36.2% of residents are able to purchase fiber plans.
West Virginia ranks 39th in the U.S. for what most of us would consider basic access. And given that our lives are driven just a little more each day by devices that require internet access, there is increasing reason to push for 1 Gbps access, too. Wood County had 93.9% access to 1 Gbps, but Pocahontas County has zero, as does Hardy County. Large pockets of the rest of the state have very little such options.
This isn't a matter of access to a luxury service anymore. Affordable high-quality internet is a necessity. It should be thought of as a utility, in the same category as water, gas and electricity. Families, schools and businesses need it, if we are serious about lifting everyone in the state and providing quality-of-life for families and infrastructure for employers that makes them want to move (or stay) here.
Lawmakers will have a great deal on their plates in January. And we haven't heard much about broadband for a couple of months from anyone in Charleston or Washington, D.C. The push that gained so much momentum last year must be resumed.
We got just the teensiest taste of what it's like to live in a world that runs on the internet and not have access to it this week. Then we got it back and everyone breathed a sigh of relief and went on with their lives.
Now, imagine being a young person or a small business owner making decisions about where to put down roots, knowing the town you want to call home is on the wrong side of that digital divide while a town in the next county (or state) can connect to the rest of the world with a few keystrokes.
For many of those folks, it's impossible to make the decision they would like to make. It's a shame, but there ARE solutions. One-fifth of the state deserves to know they haven't been l
Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com.