Letter from Langdon: The Co-Op Model

[Commentary] CO-MO Connect, a holding company of CO-MO REC headquartered in Tipton (MO) provides Internet and cable TV service to 42 Zip codes and over 38,000 people in central Missouri -- towns like Tipton, Versailles, Sunrise Beach, Gravois Mills, and Warsaw. Super-fast Internet connections help businesses connect with consumers in a brisk retail environment that peaks from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Prior to CO-MO Connect, Internet service was spotty at best. Thanks to the busy lake atmosphere, mobile phone providers had already delivered 3G and 4G service, but on busy summer days when lake traffic was highest, cellular towers were bogged down by smart phones and unceasing demand. (That highlights the problems wireless Internet service faces as ever more powerful handhelds make greater and greater demands on mobile networks. Those same mobile networks are saying they need access to a broader spectrum of radio waves just to keep up.)

Because modern America is beginning to see Internet access as another utility, having service like that available in rural Missouri bolsters property values and helps attract new investment. That’s something that has been missing since the home mortgage crisis and recession hit property values around the lake about 10 years ago. Now values have begun to rise as investment returns. Having the fastest Internet speed in Missouri hasn't hurt the Ozarks.

[Richard Oswald is president the Missouri Farmers Union, is a fifth-generation farmer living in Langdon (MO)]