Wichita Eagle
Size of internet providers factors into Kansas’ rural broadband divide
About 95,000 Kansas households have no access to the internet or lack what has been defined as the bare minimum of internet access, said State Rep. Mark Schreiber (R-Emporia ), a member of the Statewide Broadband Expansion Planning Task Force. Fast internet is so crucial to daily life that Kansans are finding creative workarounds, from turning their phones into hotspots to finding someplace nearby where they can access Wi-Fi. Some schools in rural areas allow students to access their Wi-Fi from the parking lot on evenings and weekends.
Small Kansas Town and Google Partner for Wi-Fi on School Buses
On Sept 20, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and other dignitaries came to Council Grove (KS), population 2,079, to celebrate a budding program to equip rural school transportation with Wi-Fi service. They call it “Rolling Study Hall” and the kids love it because they can do their Web-based assignments on the long trip to and from school. The Wi-Fi equipped buses were made possible by a partnership between the Morris County school system, the national Consortium for School Networking and Google, said Superintendent Aron Dody. The Wi-Fi equipped buses carry 165 students da