Rural America still struggling for access to high-speed internet service

As anticipation grows for 5G technology to be rolled out in big cities, nearly 15 million people in rural pockets across the country are still waiting for reliable high-speed internet. In the southeast, some states like Alabama are desperate to get their rural areas up to speed. In 2018 Gov Kay Ivey (R-AL) signed a rural internet bill into law that offered electric co-ops and telecommunications companies grant money in exchange for infrastructure investments in some of the state’s rural areas with little to no access to high-speed internet. Georgia and Mississippi have also jumped on board. Both states passed legislation in 2019 to give electric co-ops the authority to install, offer and expand broadband services to customers in rural areas of those states.