Broadband in Rural N.C. - Looking at the 2007 numbers

In North Carolina, there are nine telephone membership cooperatives, six privately-held telephone companies, six publicly-held telephone companies and one municipal telephone company. Here’s how their Internet service breaks down:

The telephone membership cooperatives serve approximately 4 percent of the access lines in North Carolina and have made DSL service available to 98 percent of their subscribers (note: a number of them make service available to 100 percent of their subscribers).

The six privately-held companies serve approximately 6 percent of the access lines in North Carolina and make DSL service available to 98 percent of their subscribers.

The one municipal group serves approximately 0.05 percent of the state’s access lines and has made DSL service available to 100 percent of subscribers.

But here’s the real story…

The six publicly-held companies serve approximately 90 percent of the access lines in North Carolina (and actually, two significant companies in that mix serve 88 percent of the lines). Combined, the six publicly-held companies make DSL service available to approximately 80 percent of the access lines in the state. These companies are now headquartered outside of the state and financial decisions on deployment of specific telecommunications services are now mostly made at that corporate level.

There are approximately 600,000 households in North Carolina that do not have access to any type of high-speed Internet service, and most of these households are in rural communities. As an economy, we’ve long-since passed the point where Internet is a luxurious or insignificant pastime for people with disposable income. It is a utility and a basic infrastructure – no different from water, sewer, roads and electricity.

So, how do citizens solve the problem of not having service?

Call customer service?
Many citizens tell us that this doesn’t work, even when they are armed with community petitions that beg and plead for service.

Escalate the issue to someone higher up in the company?
Again, many citizens tell us that this also does not work, but we always suggest that they continue to try.

Call the Utilities Commission?
By law, they don’t regulate Internet services.

What’s left?
Contact your state and federal representatives. They are the only ones that can bring about a change in the way companies operate. (For example, they can provide incentives to nonprofit, private and public sector providers to encourage deployment to homes and businesses.) Always remember that your elected officials are in a position of power – but only by virtue of your vote.